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E-Mail Bag: A Call To Bring Commentary Back To The "Evening News"

In case you've wondered whether or not anyone is actually reading all those e-mails you send Public Eye's way, here's proof we do. This e-mail, from Floyd M. in Nashville, caught our attention and we wanted to pass it along:


An Open Message to Rome Hartman [the next Executive Producer for the CBS "Evening News"]:

When planning for the future of the "CBS Evening News," I'd like to offer a suggestion, maybe more of a plea: bring back one of the classic features of the broadcast, the commentary. (My candidate for this spot is Bob Schieffer.) As a 50-year old who grew up on Walter Cronkite, I remember even as a young man looking forward to the insightful commentaries of Eric Sevareid. He offered truly intelligent observations and opinions on the matters of the day.

The only time I see the same quality of commentary these days is on Sunday Mornings, when Bob Schieffer's observations at the close of "Face The Nation" "call it as it is."

Today's news is dominated by spin from the Washington propagandists, particularly that of the Bush White House. As a result of the media giving the administration, if not the entire federal government, a free pass after 9/11, the major networks are running scared.

After Dan Rather got burned with the whole memo debacle, it gave the Bush Gang more chutzpah. (Watching the original broadcast, I found it most interesting that the secretary of the TX National Guard officer who allegedly wrote the memo stated that it did sound like something her boss would have said.)

My point is that today's Attention Deficit audiences desperately need to see and hear the truth spoken to power by a free media. Most of the commentaries I've seen Bob give should be broadcast at a time that everyone will see it, not just the Sunday Morning news and CBSNews.com geeks.

The possibilities are boundless: Henry Kissinger, Snoop Dogg, Don Rickles, Phillip Roth. Or maybe Bill Clinton and Bob Dole could team up … oops, that's already been tried. We're listening, send us your ideas.
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