Rather Revealing

If the e-mails I have been receiving are any indication, the CBS advertisers, affiliates, and shareholders have got to be feeling the heat. Here's a small sample of what I've been getting. Please note that these folks are not exactly die-hard Bush supporters.

Richard hits Citibank where it hurts the most:

This evening I went through my wallet, and to my surprise found two credit cards from Citibank.

With a little research, I found out who to send the cut up cards to. They're in the mail, along with the following letter.

Ken Stork, President
Citi Cards
c/o Citi customer service
PO Box 6500
Sioux Falls SD 57117

Dear Mr. Stork:

Enclosed you will find the remains of my Citi ATT Universal Visa Card. I have had the card for 14 years, and have a $9100 credit limit. I also enclose my AAdvantage Citi MasterCard, which I got earlier this year, and which has a $10,000 limit. I have closed the accounts, and wanted you to know why.

Citi is a regular advertiser with CBS News. As you may know, CBS News recently used forged military documents in an attempt to swing the election against the incumbent, George Bush.

As reprehensible as this would be in peacetime, we are now at war. I lost friends on September 11th, and have others serving in Iraq and Afghanistan now. CBS News tried to remove our Commander in Chief, through fraud and deception.

I cannot support these actions in any way. Even though I have not supported the war or this President, an attempt to subvert our electoral process rises above simple partisan politics.

I will boycott any firm that advertises with CBS News, unless and until CBS fires everyone involved with the story, makes a full public disclosure of the events around the deception, and apologizes to President Bush and the American people.

I have been pleased to do business with Citi, and regret that our relationship must end now. Your service and products have been outstanding. If you cease advertising with CBS, I will be happy to re-activate my accounts.

In a followup e-mail Richard advises:

In going down the list [of CBS advertisers], Citi and American Express are the best targets. Most people aren't going to buy a new car in the next six months, so it's hard to effectively boycot Ford or Kia. If you send an email to Campbell's saying you're not going to buy their soup, they don't know if you do or not. And I'm not going to boycot Zocor if it's been prescribed.

But cut up your credit card and send it to them, and they get the message. When I called and canceled my Citi accounts they just about begged me to stay. On the American Airlines card they offered me 25,000 frequent flyer miles if I'd leave the account open.

The other good thing about targeting them is that they're widespread. I'd bet 60% of the people that read FL have either an Amex card or a Citi card.

If Amex or Citi got 100 people canceling their accounts, they'd move those ads to another show on CBS. If they get 1000, they'll take their ads off CBS all together. They figure that a single customer is worth something like $1000 in profit over his lifetime. It would be a symbolic victory, but a powerful one.

So my suggestion is to focus on those two companies, knock them down, and move on to the next target.

Alastair e-mailed with this:

I thought you might be interested in this correspondence, as I got the inspiration from your post.

By the way, I'm not--I hope--a fellow right winger. Lifelong Democrat, Bush will be my first Presidential vote for an Elephant. And I'm not too happy about him, if that matters...which, actually, it hardly does, given the post 9-11 choices that our country faces.

Jay Newman
General Manager, WJZ-TV
3725 Malden Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21211
phone (410) 578-7507
fax (410) 578-0642

Dear Mr. Newman,

I had the pleasure of corresponding on Friday with David Folkenflik, the Baltimore Sun reporter who is covering the "60 Minutes"-Killian Memos controversy. Having taken the trouble to lay out my view of that situation for him, I thought I might take a moment and share it with you as well.

Unfortunately, the picture is not pretty. And even though my correspondence with Mr. Folkenflik ended only a few hours ago, some circumstances have already changed, and not for the better from CBS News' point of view.

CBS' Journalistic Malpractice prior to airing "60 Minutes"

-CBS did not show that they checked facts in the Killian memos.
-CBS did not produce a single qualified expert in military correspondence who checked the Killian memos for consistency.
-CBS did not produce a single qualified expert in typography who checked the Killian memos for consistency.
-CBS has produced Marcel Matley as the expert who authenticated the memos. Since the broadcast, Matley has backed away, saying that these documents cannot be authenticated.
-CBS suppressed the findings of document experts Linda James and Emily Wills when their analysis showed that the memos were forgeries.
-CBS has named James J. Pierce as an expert who continues to support the documents' authenticity. To my knowledge, nobody knows who he is. [update: he's been found, but further damages CBS' case]
-CBS did not acknowledge that they held only copies of documents, and that experts agree that only originals can be authenticated.
-CBS suppressed interviews conducted prior to broadcast conducted with Killian's family that cast doubt upon the memos' authenticity.
-CBS misrepresented National Guard veteran Hodges' endorsement of the memos. It turns out that he listened to them being read over the phone, while under the impression that they were Killian's handwritten notes.

CBS' Journalistic Malpractice since airing "60 Minutes"

-CBS has not acknowledged that the Killian memos contain errors of fact that make crude forgery a likelihood.
-CBS has not acknowledged that the Killian memos contain errors in military correspondence formatting that make crude forgery a likelihood.
-CBS has not acknowledged that the typography of the Killian memos shows that they were printed from a computer.
-CBS shopped for a favorable expert opinions in the aftermath of the "60 Minutes" broadcast, putting forth as "expert" the opinion of OE70s-era IBM typewriter technician Bill Glennon, after he had stepped forward to defend the Killian memos in the comments section of a prominent website.
-CBS has not acknowledged the dishonest logic of urging disbelief of Marian Knox when she calls the memos forged, but urging uncritical acceptance when she says they reflect what Killian thought. Does CBS find her credible, or not?
-CBS has not reported Killian's son's challenge to Knox's position regarding her working relationship with his father.

Fifteen points, to which I could add others. CBS News has dealt with none of them.

None.

Anyone can see that the 60 Minute memos are forgeries. CBS News never had a case. But they continue to pretend that the memos are genuine. This is contemptible.

I hope that you are aware that New York's behavior will affect the viewing habits of Baltimore television watchers. Aside from checking out "Dan Rather's latest tall tales," I'm urging my family to switch from watching news on Channel 13 to watching Channel 11.

We'll still watch the shows we like (CSI, Survivor, and, sometimes, Amazing Race). We might stay with the weather as well. But what's the point of watching the news if you have to wonder whether the reporters can be trusted?

I hope you have a way to let the network's news division know that they are making a big mistake. I don't think that I'm the only one who feels this way!