ACTION ALERT: Nader Left Out of Media Websites
June 22, 2000
NOTE: Since this alert was written, Nader has been added to the New York Times and MSNBC websites. He is also now on the CBS "Follow the Dollar" page. CNN and Time have made no changes as of 6/27/00.
According to recent political polls, the Green Party's Ralph Nader is now the leading third party candidate for president. But you wouldn't know it from looking at online news media websites.
In a Gallup poll released June 9, for example, Ralph Nader ranked third among possible presidential candidates, with 6 percent, vs. 2 percent for Buchanan; Nader edged ahead of Buchanan 4 percent to 2 percent in a May 31 Zogby Reuters poll, and led 5 percent to 4 percent in an April 29 Hart/Teeter survey. Buchanan has been included in most lists of candidates available on most major news websites. Information about Nader, however, has been strangely absent.
On the joint New York Times/ABC News site "Political Points," the candidates listed under "Elections" are George W. Bush, Al Gore, Patrick Buchanan and Alan Keyes (who is still contesting the Republican nomination despite Bush having an insurmountable majority of committed delegates). Though the Green Party is listed under "Parties and Persuasions," Nader is absent from the list of possible candidates.
CBSNews.com's "Campaign 2000" site lists only Gore, Bush and Buchanan as candidates in its "Correspondent's Handbook," which is meant to be a "political consumer's guide" for journalists covering the elections. Though Nader is listed in the site's "Candidate Schedules" section, he is excluded from the more substantive "Where They Stand" and "Follow the Dollar" pages, while Buchanan is included.
CNN.com's "White House hopefuls," like MSNBC.com's "Decision 2000" candidate profiles, features Buchanan, Bush, Gore and Keyes-- but not Nader. Time.com only offers profiles of Bush and Gore.
Two news sites that do include Nader in their lists of candidates are WashingtonPost.com and FoxNews.com. (The Fox site also mentions Libertarian candidate Harry Browne.)
ACTION: Please contact the following websites and let them know that Ralph Nader, the leading third party candidate, deserves to be included in their lists of candidates. As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with your correspondence.
CONTACT:
CBS: webmail@cbs.com
CNN: cnn.feedback@cnn.com
Time: webletters@pathfinder.com
Clarification:
FAIR's June 22 Action Alert, "Nader Left Out of Media Websites," incorrectly referred to the New York Times' "Political Navigator" page as the New York Times/ABC News "Political Points" site. The confusion arose in part because the "Navigator" page is accessed through a link labeled "Political Points" on the New York Times index page.
At the time of our original alert, the Times' "Political Navigator" page did not list Nader; it now does, as our June 30 Activism Update noted. The New York Times/ABC News "Political Points" page added Nader to its list of candidates before our alert.