GOP Tries to Slow Health Care Reform; Media Cooperates
Internal RNC Memo: “Engage In Every Activity” To Slow Down Health Care Reform
by Chris Nava
The Huffington Post reports that an internal GOP memo calls for delay as a strategy to damage efforts at health care reform. Read more here. A call to Political Action: If this memo isn’t enough to stir us to action, I don’t know what is.
Don’t let the message of the Republican National Committee translate into success for the Party who continues to make their politics, not the people they are supposed to serve, front and center of health care reform.
Continue to make your calls, write your letters, and get involved in any of the coalitions groups that are leading the grassroots in informing and providing opportunities for involvement. Suggested contact organizations include:
Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)
HEALTH CARE: Is the Media taking the GOP Bait?
by Chris Nava
(see related article on our Health Care Reform Background page)
It would appear so. According to the Washington Post (7-20-09) “Cable news programs repeatedly declare the president’s health care program is teetering or embattled despite a week in which Obama’s proposals were endorsed by the doctor and nurses associations and committees in both legislative chambers passed major bills.” Sadly for our democracy, the media has bought the GOP talking points without question. Why are the media ignoring the fact that the American Medial Associated and the American Nurses Association have endorsed Democrats’ reform efforts?
The lack of fairness in reporting on the health care issue is nothing new. According to FAIR ( Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting), a media watchdog group, there has been a huge failure on the part of the media outlets to give any significant coverage to single-payer. In a recent study conducted by the organization it was found that out of hundreds of stories about healthcare the views of single-payer advocates were never covered by the TV networks. It took the loud protests of single-payer activists during Senate hearings and their expulsion from the floor to gain some notice from the corporate media.
Listen to the voices of some of our media figures as they cater to Republican talking points: “Is his plan in serious peril?” CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked last Friday. CNN’s Jessica Yellin asserted that “the White House is feeling really nervous right now. I mean, they know that this thing is a mess.” “The conventional wisdom here is that [Obama is] on the ropes here on health care,” NBC’s David Gregory claimed. Yet, in a candid acknowledgment, NBC’s Chuck Todd conceded the media has “created this drama.”
We do not need the media to create drama; we need the media to create an atmosphere of honest and accurate reporting. Anything less than that is a betrayal of our Democracy.
Send a message to the networks and demand that they give fair and accurate reporting. Viewers want to know: Why are you giving so much weight to GOP talking Points? Are you really supporting the GOP tactics of “delaying” and “killing ” health reform?