We’ve certainly lost a good man in the media, haven’t we? I hope that we get someone new who will be fair like Russert. By the way, I have a comment about Tony Snow on my blogsite, and also on the MyFoxLA blogsite under my blog name mystere. The title is “Tony Snow RIP; See You In Heaven” on both sites. I remember you had Tony Snow on your show several times in the late 90s on KBRT. As for Tim Russert, I know you had plenty of respect for him too. Russert also reminded me of the late Bill Stout from KCBS.

I hope to hear from you sometime.

Edward Endo

mystere’s moonbat slayer club

Well said. I knew Russert and interviewed with him on Meet the Press a couple of times. As you said he was always tough but fair. You never felt he was dealing you his personal agenda. If you said something dumb a few years back and then changed your position, he would bring it to your attention. This is fair. He was a genuinely nice guy who loved what he did. He was a very religious man as well. A rarity in the media today.

Senator Bob Smith

Enjoyed your article which I first saw at World Net Daily. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=67417

In a day and age when most conservatives are feeling pretty beleaguered and disheartened in the face of the predominately liberal slant of most media outlets, it is good to be reminded that our opinions do count - even with the liberal media if only for pecuniary reasons.

As witnessed here in California the last week with most of the general media offering little to no analysis of the history, background and future portent of same-sex unions relative to the well-being of society, no respectful, calm debate on the issues, no discussion of the judicial and political manipulation and maleficence of democracy that has occurred, only emphasis of the elated feelings of those who support the new compact, conservatives and pro-family folks are left sobered and in need of inspiration.

But if there is an opportunity in every crises, maybe the one here is that many people will begin to abandon the sources of media that offer no fair and intelligent reporting of the news and issues, and turn to those that do. And we’ll see readership and advertising sponsorship of liberal media continue to make an exodus towards sources that value the truth and the best interests of the public.

I’ve recently noticed your columns at WND and have enjoyed them. Keep up the good work and may intelligent, knowledgeable voices like yours be increasingly heard.

Though one letter or phone call will not necessarly produce a noticable change, I can promise you it cases a report to think before he or she does the next story. However, if several — three or four respectful complains are logged it does produce results. Reporters have thin skin to be sure but they all want to be considered good journalists. If the comment just goes to the person who answers the phone, they are logged and read by everyone. It hurts.

If you call a reporter directly, don’t do it near his or her deadline when they are pushed and most will be happy to hear you out. If not, send a letter to the editor or news director. Some have an ombudsman.

I promise you, your calls and letters are helping keep them honest, but so few people do it. You would be surprised.

Galen Engel
Abilene, TX.

I agree with your column. There were many Tim Russerts in the days of Edward Murrow. Even the New York Times was once a quality newspaper before it became a tabloid like it is now.

I wasn’t aware that members of the mainstream media were sensitive to criticism because they seem to be tone-deaf and to live in their own little bubble, and of course many of them do have an agenda. The bottom line, however, is that they are people, and they can be communicated with through persuasion. Ronald Reagan seemed to have good relations with the mainstream media even though they disagreed about many things. He got along well with Helen Thomas while Bush has only taken one question from her at news conferences in over seven years that he has been president.

Clay