A Call To Action From My Dead Dad

I read the following Tweet this morning:

Chrysler pays back it's auto industry loan+company is back on track+thousands of jobs saved+GOP was wrong on this=little media coverage.


My Dad was a journalist, more importantly, he was a journalist with integrity. He got his facts, not from the internet but from actual people. He didn't just assume what he was told was true, he checked, double checked, triple checked and then verified it again, all before he put his fingers to the typewriter.

He started as a cub reporter on the police beat and moved on to general interest and finally found his niche in reporting on what politicians and other groups were doing that affected all residents presenting both the good and the bad.

It's hard to imagine what he would think of today's journalistic integrity of the mainstream media. I think he would be disgusted by how truth has taken a back seat to profit and advertising revenue streams.

Often when I think about him, I don't so much think of what he achieved and did with his life so much as I hear his voice in my head.

This morning when I read that Tweet and agreed with it, my Dad immediately piped up and starkly asked,

"So what can you do about it? Do you think that this will change with no encouragement from you? Why would they want to change the current status quo! Fight back! Quit whining and use your head and that internet you are so fond of! Start something!"

Well alrighty Dad, I will. I'm going to start by calling out the media when they do things like this because you're right, they really have no idea how unhappy I am with them lately, even though I do whine about it plenty.

For starters, I'm going to let them know. In the time it takes me to sit in my chair and talk back to the television (for example), I probably could have picked up the phone and called them and let them know and been done before the commercials were over.

I also encourage others to do the same thing. To make it easier, here's a list of some media outlets where we can voice our opinions. I have decided not to show email addresses, it's too easy to delete an email or pretend you never got it. A letter someone actually took the time to write or actually interacting with a live person is a little harder to ignore:

ABC News
147 Columbus Ave., New York, NY 10023
Phone: 212-456-7777

CBS News
524 W. 57 St., New York, NY 10019
Phone: 212-975-4321
Fax: 212-975-1893

CNBC
900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632
Phone: (201) 735-2622
Fax: (201) 583-5453

CNN
One CNN Center, Box 105366, Atlanta, GA 30303-5366
Phone: 404-827-1500
Fax: 404-827-1784

Fox News Channel
1211 Ave. of the Americas, New York, NY 10036
Phone: (212) 301-3000
Fax: (212) 301-4229

MSNBC/NBC
30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112
Phone: (212) 664-4444
Fax: (212) 664-4426

PBS
2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington VA 22202
Phone: 703-739-5000
Fax: 703-739-5777

The Los Angeles Times
202 West First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 800-528-4637 or 213-237-5000
Fax: 213-237-4712

The New York Times
620 8th Ave., New York, NY 10018
Phone: 212-556-1234
D.C. Bureau phone: 202-862-0300
Fax: 212-556-3690

USA Today
7950 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, VA 22108
Phone: 703-854-3400
Fax: 703-854-2078

The Wall Street Journal
1211 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-416-2000
Fax: 212-416-2658

The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW, Washington, DC 20071
Phone: 202-334-6000
Fax: 202-334-5075

For People in the Minneapolis/St.Paul area:

Channel 2:

Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.
172 East 4th Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
Front Desk: (651) 222-1717
Fax: (651) 229-1282

Channel 4:

WCCO-TV
90 S. 11th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Main Number: (612) 339-4444 or 1-800-444-WCCO
Fax: (612) 333-2767

Channel 5:

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS/KSTP-TV
3415 University Ave.
Saint Paul, MN 55114-2099
Switchboard: (651) 646-5555
Newsroom phone: (612) 5TV-NEWS (612-588-6397)
Newsroom fax: (651) 642-4409

Channel 9:

KMSP-TV
11358 Viking Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
952-946-5767

Channel 11:

KARE 11
8811 Olson Memorial Hwy.
Minneapolis, MN 55427
763-593-1111

StarTribune
425 Portland Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55488
Main number: (612) 673-4000

St Paul Pioneer Press
345 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55101
General Information — 651-222-1111
Newsroom Reader Advocate — 651-228-5446

Let's start fighting back everyone!