I object to McCarthyism

Date:
Tue 11-07-2006 04:16 PM

I object to McCarthyism

I happened to view your broadcasting today (democracynow.org) for the first time and I am
writing to express how appalled I am by your abysmal ethics. The anchor,
Ms. Goodman, sequed into a story with the line, "we go now from a story
of an American soldier raping and murdering Iraqi civilians to a story
of a soldier who went AWOL." I am horrified that a broadcaster would try
and convict an individual on live television a la' McCarthy. Correct me
if I'm wrong but does not this individual, as reprehensible as many
people would find him if he is in fact quilty, have the right to due
process and a jury of his peers to convict him? This has not happened.
Perhaps it will, perhaps it will not but this person has the right in a
democracy to his day in court and you have no right to convict anyone on
television. Ms. Goodman had the perfect opportunity to instruct the
Iraqi journalist--employed by the L.A. Times--in the rules of evidence
and how democracy works but she squandered the moment and uncritically
accepted the hearsay evidence presented by the journalist. I object to
McCarthyism and the fraud that is entitled "Democracy Now." Indeed,
democracy works and your broadcasting should attempt to live out the
ideals, ethics, and the objective journalist responsibility that it
entails.
Regards,
G. Mick Smith, PhD