On Monday, donna neversurrender of DailyKos.com launched a boycott of the Washington Post. We are endorsing this boycott for a number of reasons:
- As David Swanson details below, the Post served as nothing more than a propaganda organ of the Bush administration before their illegal and suicidal invasion of Iraq. (We re-named it the "Pentagon Post" (or "PentaPost" for short) on 2/26/03 when the Post wrote a black-is-white editorial urging invasion.)
- Now that the Downing Street Memos have revealed the truth about Bush's Iraq War lies, the Post refuses to provide serious coverage of the memos and the outrage they have unleashed, preferring instead to unleash the contempt and lies of its columnists.
- I have asked repeatedly for a correction to one flat-out lie about us - that Democrats.com was "the event organizer" of the June 16 hearing organized by Rep. John Conyers - and have not received so much as an acknowledgment of the request, let alone a correction. Many of you have written eloquent letters in support of my request, for which I am most grateful. To my knowledge, none of you have received the slightest courtesy of a reply either.
donna's announcement is clear and right to the point:
Remember what we did to Sinclair Broadcasting before the election when they wanted to run the Swift Boat Liars Special? We can and must do it again to the Washington Post because articles like Millbank's are the equivalent of the Swift Boat Liars. We only need to target one media outlet and the rest will get the message that they can and will be next.
The manner in which the Washington Post treated Congressman Conyers' Hearing on the Downing Street Minutes is indicative of the censorship in the lying, biased, corporate owned media and it's time we tell them we're not taking it anymore.
Let the Post know when they treat us with contempt, and disrespect our country, our congress, and our democracy, lying and shilling for the bush administration, we will do something about it and we do mean business.
POST CONTACTS:
Advertising: advertising@washingtonpost.com
Corporate HQ: TWPCoReply@washpost.com
Michael Getler: ombudsman@washpost.com
Dana Milbank: milbankd@washpost.com
Letters to the editors: letters@washpost.com
If you live in the DC area, we urge you to cancel your subscription or stop buying the Post at the newsstand. And send an e-mail to everyone above explaining the reason for your decision. (As always, please keep your e-mails civil.)
And even if you do not live in the DC area, donna has compiled a list of the Post's advertisers with their contact info so you can call/write/fax them and tell them you will boycott their products as long as they advertise in the Post.
We will support this boycott until the Washington Post announces a change in its policy about its coverage of the Bush administration's lies about Iraq - and all of the administration's other lies, which go unchallenged by the Post seven days a week.
We also demand accurate, fair, and complete coverage of the opponents of the Bush administration - both elected Democrats and progressive activists.
The Post is not the only news organization that deserves to be boycotted. We will endorse other such efforts as they are posted.
The bottom line is simple. When it comes to the truth, the news media has to make a choice: you're either with us or you're against us.
