FAIR has a new Action Alert out on CNN's newest political commentator: Red State's Erick Erickson. For some indication of why this is perhaps the creepiest move by a cable network since MSNBC hired Michael Savage–and for an email address to communicate your feelings–click here. Please leave copies of your messages to CNN, or comments on the alert, in the comments thread here.
About Jim NaureckasExtra! Magazine Editor Since 1990, Jim Naureckas has been the editor of Extra!, FAIR's bimonthly journal of media criticism. He is the co-author of The Way Things Aren't: Rush Limbaugh's Reign of Error, and co-editor of The FAIR Reader: An Extra! Review of Press and Politics in the '90s. He is also the co-manager of FAIR's website. He has worked as an investigative reporter for the newspaper In These Times, where he covered the Iran-Contra scandal, and was managing editor of the Washington Report on the Hemisphere, a newsletter on Latin America. Jim was born in Libertyville, Illinois, in 1964, and graduated from Stanford University in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in political science. Since 1997 he has been married to Janine Jackson, FAIR's program director. You can follow Jim on Twitter at @JNaureckas.
THANK YOU FAIR!!! My note to Mr. Feist:
Dear Mr. Feist,
I see that CNN has not only forgone the art of journalism, but you have actually gone the OPPOSITE direction away from factual reporting and TOWARDS opinion media.
While America is in its current state of crisis, we need to make sure that we are a populace which is FULLY-INFORMED. In this time, America has watched as CNN has abandoned its drive for factual reporting. Your programming the last year or so has been nothing short of a disgrace. I check every now and again, but am ALWAYS, literally ALWAYS, disgusted by your pathetic hyperbolic, breathless "reporting" which is clearly not based on facts or doing the responsible thing as a professional journalist, but on controversy to win viewers.
(In other words, your profit motive outweighs your journalistic integrity).
And yet, despite your record of horrific malfeasance as a news organization, and when you are in the middle of miserably failing in your DUTY as a member of the 4th Estate to inform the American populace, you hire an extreme partisan to offer not substance but just more spin. That decision on your part, alone, is enough to make me write this note.
But on top of that, what else is abundantly clear is that Mr. Erickson is guilty of profoundly insulting and demeaning commentary.
Obviously you know this and support everything the man has said.
So, from now on, I am going to associate ALL of his remarks — past, present, and future — with CNN.
That makes you and your company:
Anti-woman
Anti-immigrant
Anti-environment
Anti-social justice
Anti-Latino
Anti-African-American
Anti-minority
CNN: The Network for Misogynists and Racists!
This decision to hire an extremist like Mr. Erickson was the Death Knell for CNN.
I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.
You are not interested in journalism. You are interested in controversy. Well, you just found it and it's going to hit you where it hurts YOU the most: IN YOUR BOTTOM LINE.
I hope CNN is forced to fire this insulting individual in disgrace, but more importantly, I hope you see that your pathetic, disturbing tactic of forwarding spin over factual reporting is going to cost CNN significant amounts of money and profit.
By the way, I am copying this email and sending it to every newspaper and media organization so they write stories about how pathetic CNN has become.
Good riddance to CNN and your abject failure as a news institution.
You should be ashamed. I know you're NOT ashamed — because you have no conscience and no soul — but you should be.
I will be urging sponsors to boycott advertising on any Erick Erickson CNN broadcast. Shame on you for re-hiring the likes of an idiot like Glen Beck. The concept of 24 hour news has degenerated into some sort of sideshow for the Jerry Springer crowd. I won't purchase any product that pays for this idiocy.
Dear Mr. Feist:
I am writing partially out of disgust and partially out of scholarly curiosity about your decision to hire one of the more
offensive commentators in the shout-media business, Erik Erickson, as a political commentator on CNN.
I teach in the communication field, so I understand a little about marketing, etc., and the so-called "Fox effect."
But what I don't get is this. What happened to the breed of journalists and news producers who felt at least some obligation
to the public and the democracy they serve? Where are the executives who believe the mass media can play a role in
educating and elevating the civic discourse? Have they all retired? Or were they sent to some reeducation camp to learn
the new ethic – only the bottom line matters and we will feature Neanderthals delivering the news with clubs (now there is
a marketing idea), if it brings up the ratings?
Is there no semblance of journalistic responsibility left? Cable has, since its inception, insisted on and largely won, the same
First Amendment protections that are enjoyed by subscription publications. It has claimed exemption from regulation under
the "public interest, convenience and necessity" clause of the 1934 Federal Communications Act. But CNN was founded on the
premise that democracies need more information, and that your network would enhance our population's understanding of the
world and its ability to deliberate intelligently on important policy issues. That was once the soul of CNN.
Is this hire the last nail in the coffin? Is that soul dead? Does anyone at CNN care about the potentially illuminating role
of journalism, or does it now seek only the incendiary, the sensational, the dumbing down of discourse?
Sincerely,
Thomas N. Gardner, Ph.D.
Assoc. Prof. of Communication
Westfield State College
tgardner@wsc.ma.edu
Mr. Feist,
As a long-time viewer of CNN, I have relied on your network to provide me with daily news coverage and political commentary that I have come to trust and respect. I love Wolf Blitzer, Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper. However, I was very alarmed to learn that you have hired Erick Erickson to appear on John King, USA and other programs on your network.
I understand that ratings are an important aspect of your business, but to sell out your network to stay competitive with despicable networks like Fox News is beyond reproach. In doing so, you risk losing a significant number of your viewers because we know Erickson's track record. According to FAIR, Erickson "is a racist who declared that Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize because of 'affirmative action quotas' (Think Progress, 10/9/09). He is a misogynist who suggested that 'feminazis were enraged' by an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad because '"that's what being too ugly to get a date does to your brain,' and he urged 'ugly feminists return to their kitchens' (Media Matters, 2/8/10). He's a homophobe who asserted that 'the full gay rights agenda' means that 'men and boys can have sexual relationships free of prudish moral people frowning' (Media Matters, 10/9/09). And he's an all-around nasty human being who, upon Justice David Souter's retirement, called him 'the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court' (Crooks and Liars, 5/1/09)."
Hiring someone like this to join your respected network will only damage CNN's credibility and cause untold viewers to turn to other networks like MSNBC, CNBC, or heaven forbid, even Fox News.
Please reconsider this disastrous decision. Until Erickson no longer appears on your network, I will be getting my news elsewhere (e.g. Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, etc.), and encouraging everyone I know to do the same.
Regards,
"TD"
Former CNN Viewer
Dear Mr. Feist;
Unbelievable. Erick Erickson on CNN. Is this the state of the American cable news media–that someone who called a retiring Supreme Court justice (and I quote) a "goat-f*cking child molester" is hired by CNN to provide political commentary?
Unbelievable.
Please reconsider your decision to hire Erick Erickson. I thank you in advance for your consideration.
Here's my response:
CNN's hiring of Erick Erickson as a political commentator undermines any claim your network has on being fair or fact-based. Judging from the comments by Mr. Erickson that I culled through, it appears that you're trying to "out fox" Fox News by hiring a venomous non-thinking loudmouth entertainer. He's certainly no journalist.
Maybe hiring this type of talking head will get you some viewers, but I don't see how and, frankly, I'm not sure why your network would want to appeal to the sort that watches that kind of personality or listens to that brand of sensationalistic vitriol.
At any rate, your continuing and successful quest to lower your journalistic standards ensures that reasonable (and reasoning) viewers of any political stripe will migrate to other news outlets.
Here is mine:
I am dismayed that you have hired the hatemonger homophobe Erick Erickson at CNN. Just this morning I completed an online survey asking me to rate media outlets according to the degree of trust I place in them. CNN scored "do not trust at all." Welcome to the cellar where FOX dwells.
Hiring hatemonger Erick Erickson? Have you no sense of decency? Just what "small town values" does this vile man bring to CNN? You have sunk to a new low and you will pay for it.
What can you be thinking? How can you hire Mr. Erickson and still be a responsible news organization? Or are you waiting for a tragedy to bring you to your senses. Your job is to inform people, give them all sides of an issue so they can come to some conclusion – not incite them based on hate filled language having nothing to do with reality. You have responsiblity for making democracy work – not tearing it apart by enabling the "bottom feeders." What we need more of is integrity and common sense and raising the level of information and discourse. Thank you for your consideration. Olivia Koppell, New York, NY.
Mr. Feist,
I am very disappointed in the recent hire of Erick Erickson. You state on your press release that he is "right of center," but when you look at his online comments, he is a far-right extremist. He's among those right wing extremists who have compared President Obama to Hitler. In fact he's suggested that Obama is worse than Hitler because Chicago's Olympic bid failed, whereas Hitler was successful.
Erickson's stated that President Obama only won the Nobel Peace Prize because of "affirmative action quotas." As if the World has affirmative action policies in place?
Erickson is against the progressive woman, who he calls feminazis who should just spend their time at home in the kitchen, suggesting that a woman's place is in the home being subservient to their almighty husband.
He's also called for political violence. Though he stated a recent call to political violence in the form of a question when he stated that people "march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot."
I just don't understand why CNN would hire a hate-mongerer, violence insiter such as Erickson. You made a big mistake with Glenn Beck and this seems like an even bigger mistake.
I urge you to reconsider Erickson's hire. Don't just hire a center-left commentator to bring so-called "balance" to your channel as some have called for. Remove him from your line-up completely.
Thank you for your time Mr. Feist.
Ryan Speer
Utah
Please reconsider hiring Erick Erickson as a political contributor. What positive prospective and commentary can this man add to CNN. He is a purveyor trash reporting and political commentary.
He's an all-around nasty human being who, upon Justice David Souter's retirement, called him "the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court" . He declared that White House spokesperson Linda Douglass "really is the Joseph Goebbels of the White House healthcare shop". Meanwhile, he suggested that Obama might be worse than Hitler, writing, "Does it say more about the IOC or Obama that the IOC gave Hitler the Olympics, but not Obama?"
Does this man qualify to be hired by CNN. Did you actually check his history. Why would you hire him?
Here's what I sent to CNN on their email link page:
"I'm still trying to wrap my mind around Political Director Sam Feist hiring Erick Erickson as a commentator on John King's show.
This is a person who called a justice of the Supreme Court "a goat-f***ing child molester" and called the First Lady of the United States of America "a Marxist harpy".
Have you no respect at all for this country and its institutions? There is no way such disrespect can be said to represent 'small town values' (in the words of Sam Feist).
I would like to see more balance and less extremes in your reporting. A thoughtful conservative like David Frum would add more light than heat to the conversation. The promotion of extreme points of view may be seen to help ratings, but it does nothing to raise the level or increase the depth of political discourse in this country.
The decision to hire Erick Erickson was wrong and does a disservice to broadcast journalism. I will no longer watch CNN as a result of this decision.
Thank you for taking the time to read this."
Here's a copy of my message to CNN:
It is unconscionable that you would jeopardize the reputation of CNN by hiring right-wing nut Erickson to spew extremist and inflammatory language over our airwaves. The kind of demagoguery which incites lawlessness and violence constitutes a danger to and threatens the safety, security and stability of the American people. The assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were devastating to this nation. Do not return America to That Sad Era. If You as a broadcaster irresponsibly hire someone who yells "fire" daily to the listeners in his theatre—-You are liable for those trampled in the stampede. I implore you, dump Erickson.
E.B. Miller, Ph.D.
My comment to CNN:
Attn: Mr Sam Feist
Dear Mr. Feist, given the volume of response comments around the web to your announcement of the hiring of Erick Erickson as a conservative political commentator, I'm imagining CNN's accountants are beside themselves with joy, thinking about how many new viewers will want to keep an eye on this homophobic, violence-inciting, all-around creep. Congratulations on what will no doubt be seen as an astute business decision.
Oh, and, CNN's reputation as a fair and balanced media outlet? Who needed it? All FOX had to do was *make* that claim – they didn't actually have to EARN it. So, CNN can now shuck off the responsibilty of earning it as well.
I was glad to see Glenn Beck go from Headline News. His show doesn't fit in with the journalist standards and spirited conversations the CNN-family hosts. However, adding Erick Erickson to your programming hurts your credibility as a serious new network. His bigoted opinions have no place in a national discussion of what is important to this country.
I don't understand how Erickson could possibly conform to the network's standards and practices.
Mr. Feist.
I can' believe grown people talk the way Erik Erickson and others talk and
get rewarded for it. It's disturbingly inappropriate. If I called someone that you
respect a "goat-f*cking child molester" or some other completely out-of-line
comment, I guess you'd be inclined to hire me. You, my friend, are as bad as
Eric – perhaps worse. CNN is joining Fox and the rest to do their best to bring
this nation down. What pathetic people! No shame.
I'd like to here a response, but I'm sure there are just too many e-mails like
this one to possibly answer. Good day!
Correction to the previous post. I can't believe…
Long live NPR and the "NewsHour with Jim Leher"! Viva!
That's news.
Here's what I sent:
OMG. That's ALL I have to say, really. You get rid of Glenn Beck from Headlines. A good thing. Now this? This guy is so hateful, he makes Glenn look like a nice guy. And believe me, that's really hard to do (too bad Fox picked him up!). You supposedly are a news organization. Okay, I can even understand having SOME right leaning advocates. But Glenn and Erick take it to the limits of civility. Erick's a misogynist, Glenn is well…just nuts! Neither ONE of them belongs on a "news" or talk channel of any sort (TV or radio!). That's just MY opinion, of course. And yes, I do understand listeners and viewers tune them in. That sir, does NOT make it anywhere near right. NO WAY! If THEIR opinion counts, so does MINE! The "stuff" that they advocate vociferously is mean-spirited as well as looney. It is in fact destroying the fabric of our democracy. How? YOUR job (the media that is) in a democracy is required to not "spin" the news but to deliver it. In a cogent fashion. With NO agenda. Is this happening? Um, NO. If a large percentage of our population is getting their "facts" from morons like Glenn (and Erick), then they are not rightfully being informed. How on earth are they supposed to make an informed decision? Vote? Understand policy? Yeah, I DO mean health care! It was smeared, and YOU know it! That's just ONE (of many) example of the effects of this trash. Erick Erickson is just one member of this elite club. Does he belong on your network? Absolutely NOT!
Could you please enlighten me as to which particular unique set of "small town values" Mr Erickson brings to his new job?
The last time I checked, bigotry and hatred and a general meanness were not confined to small town blog owners.
Thanks
How disgusting that CNN has caved into trying to appease right wingnut extremists by hiring racist and hate/violence mongering Erick Erickson as political commenter. This ill thought out move definitely does not "balance" out your news staff, but provides an unchallenged public platform which unbalances it in a destructive way. Here again, big media is playing into hands of extremists minority, giving viewer the wrong impression that this represents a mainstream or legitimate voice in our complex society. CNN held our enthusiasm and hope for awhile as "mainstream" alternative to the all pervasive Fox, but now apparently trying to emulate the propaganda station,–and we definitely will be tuning into other news sources.
For heaven's sake! What kind of standards does CNN represent by hiring a racist hatemonger like Erick Erickson? Makes me glad I don't subscribe to Cable TV.
Maggi Sullivan Godman
Sutter Creek, CA
Below is my letter:
Sam Feist,CNN Political Director
Dear Mr.Feist:
CNN has a reputation for credibility in its broadcasts. Your additiion of Erick Erickson to your staff calls that credibility into question. When a journalist/commentator approvingly counsels or excuses acts of violence against political officeholders, their network becomes incredible to most listeners.
His disgusting description of the former Supreme court Justice Souter in blatantly sexual terms was very bad taste- It gets worse.
Ericson described his endorsement of violence as follows:
As if that weren't enough, he's also an advocate of political violence (Yglesias, 4/1/09):
At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to Hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?
At some point soon, it will happen. It'll be over an innocuous issue. But the rage is building. It's not a partisan issue…. Were I in Washington state, I'd be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government apparatchiks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation.
(Note that the tyranny to which he was calling for armed resistance involved regulation of dishwashing soap.)
Your network has something to defend and not be the object of mistrust and ridicule.
He might make some headlines, but you will have to explain his provocative comments.
Sincerely,
Arnold Gore
My message to CNN:
Mr. Feist,
It was devastating to me personally to see that you have hired Erick Erickson. His hate-filled rants and hyper-partisan rhetoric have damaged me and my family in a very intimate and personal way.
It will be my pleasure to not only boycott this show and those companies that advertise during this time slot, I will also boycott CNN, wholeheartedly, for the shear short-sightedness of such a hire. Erick Erickson's speech, protected by the First Amendment, will find its way into the public forum. Should it be at the expense of the CNN watching public? I think not.
Goodbye, from a viewer of over 25 years,
Kevin D. Townsend
Dear Mr. Feist,
Gosh, I had no idea that CNN was owned by Rupert Murdoch. From what I gather from my pals at FAIR, you are trying to be more outrageous and idiotic than Faux News. Well, good luck with that.
Frankly, I can't stand to watch anything that CNN puts on the air anyway. I like my corporate PR straight and undiluted, thank you very much.
You are grabbing a Mr. Erick Erickson to replace Glenn Beck. After Justice David Souter's retirement, Erickson called him "the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court" (Crooks and Liars, 5/1/09).
Man, I can't wait to hear Mr. Erickson topping quote that on CNN. Talk about Headline News!! WOW!!
Way to go CNN!! You are going to win the race to the bottom!!
Regards,
Scott M.
Eugene, OR
Really CNN?
I'm sorry, I would have assumed having the 'best political team on television' would allow some insight to the fact that he's a racist who declared that Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize because of "affirmative action quotas." He suggested that Obama might be worse than Hitler, writing, "Does it say more about the IOC or Obama that the IOC gave Hitler the Olympics, but not Obama?"
Really CNN?
He's a misogynist who suggested that "feminazis were enraged" by an anti-abortion Super Bowl ad because "that's what being too ugly to get a date does to your brain." He urged that "ugly feminists return to their kitchens." That is your guy? You're gonna stand behind that?
Really CNN
He's a homophobe who asserted that "the full gay rights agenda" means that "men and boys can have sexual relationships free of prudish moral people frowning." You see that he equated homosexuality with pedophilia but THIS is your guy? You're totally cool with that? That's YOU now?
Really CNN?
Upon Justice David Souter's retirement, Erickson called him "the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court." I'm no big SCOTUS fan but, "GOAT-FUCKERS?" THIS is your guy? Standing behind him?
You thought you could quietly exit Lou Dobbs and then sweep in Erickson without much fuss? You think the Tea Party Wingnuts are the viewers to pander to? You want to suck away a few Glenn Beck viewers? Get in on the corporate windfall making it's way down from Citizens United?
REALLY?
(my e-mail to CNN)
Shame on CNN. I used to respect this station. How can you put someone like this on the air? It's what we expect from Fox.
I can't believe that a reputable organization such as yours would hire such a divisive person. John King even said he welcomes him to his line up. Ed Henry asked me on twitter, "You REALLY think a network shouldn't have diverse voices?" I was surprised that someone would ask such a question. Since when is hate a diverse voice? I think its sad your selling your MSM soul for ratings. Bottom line, this isn't a good journalistic decision. This decision is about money and trying to reclaim your number 1 spot as a news organization. You are no longer unbiased, because if you were, this man would not have a job with you. Over the past year, your organization has been so focused on what the Republican/GOP perspective is, that you can't see your hurting your brand. Your unbiased approach to news telling is a joke! You've been biased since you became embedded journalists around 2003. Gossip and infotainment is what you've become……if you look through all the bs, you can see the green!$$$$
I regarded your network as one of my reliable main sources of news. That all ended the day you announced bigot Eric Erickson would be joining CNN. Did you people not dig up & scrutinize the ignorant, hate speak from this monster? He may not be a clone of Beck & Rush but he's not far behind them either. I've noticed that your choice of words & spin language are beginning to mimic right wing talking points. Having diversified pundit views is great, giving this monster a star role on his own program is irresponsible. Where is the liberal & progressive voice to balance Eric's conservative views? You have occasional liberal pundits but what about giving them their OWN shows too! You will lose thoughtful, compassionate & intelligent viewers with this decision & you will probably pick up the type of fear & hate monger viewers that watch Hannity & Beck on Fox news. I am deeply disappointed that this is the direction you've chosen to take your network. You have destroyed a lifetime of trust that I had for your network & I am no longer tuning in to CNN & Headline news.
Are you out of your GD minds. Erick Erickson (that can't be his real name) is a freak. Is that what you are putting together here a freak show. CNN should not be trying to compete with Comedy Central. Besides this guy is not funny. He's sick. If CNN puts this disturbed man on the air a lot of viewers will turn their backs on CNN for good.
I wrote:
Dear Mr. Feist:
As CNN have given up any pretense of being an actual journalistic organization, evidenced by the hire of Erick Erickson, I've given up any pretense of being a viewer of your networks.
Goodbye,
Geoffrey D. Wessel
About time you have some alternative opinion on your network. Most sane people watch Fox News because of the great coverage of issues that are never shown on MSM, perhaps because of fear of hurting the grate O'messiahs feelers. Don't be swayed by this ultra left wing radical ranting…you are doing the RIGHT thing by bringing more balance to your programming. I actually look forward to the prospect of watching CNN again for the first time in 9 years. If you keep up the more common sense approach to what Americans really want in their News, you may eventually catch up to be second only to Fox.
Networks like MSNBC are the best at one thing only: Hate. You see it on every program…so vile the anchors are actually spitting mad…literally spitting…(even more obvious since HDTV). LOL! They can't shut those pie holes without making "teabagging"comments. It is a sick addiction of the anchors ironically brought on by the fact that they are the "teabaggees". Not a good picture, and the ratings appropriately "suck" because of their narrow minded focus on FOx News and Olbergirls kindergarten Worst People in the World nonsense. Whats up with that? Educated people don't bother watching that boring crap.
Yep..I'm talking here about MSM "sucking teabaggees ". I hope that CNN sees the light finally, and gives America what they really want..fair and balanced reporting. Unfortunately MSNBC will go down soon like the vile and foulmouthed tool fools at AirAmerica. Good Riddance to them and Good Luck to CNN.
Anyone who has made as many erroneous and slanted, bigotted and vile comments as this man can only drag CNN farther from objectivity, honesty, and reliability in their reporting. It is a sad day.
Copy of sent letter
Mr. Feist,
Can you explain how hiring a commentator of Erick Erickson's ilk can possibly conform to the network's standards and practices. I am dissapointed now not to be able to support John Kings new show and wish him good luck. I will also not be watching any of the shows on CNN that I have enjoyed for years. E.E. is truly a vile person!
Carol
I suppose Erickson is the "MiniMe" version of Beck. You can groom his already vile temperament into something really scary and perhaps gain some of those Foaming at the Mouth Fox demographics you are hoping for.
Too bad the more credible Journos in your organization will suffer from the association as you turn CNN into a mindless noise machine. Hope it is worth it to you.
Hey, bet you can get Dobbs back… I mean,you don't have to pretendto not be racist, fear mongering noisemakers any longer. And, it is a formula that has worked for Roger Ailes. And we all have so much respect for him and the vile smell he has brought to the airwaves…
With a little practice, you can become just like him–just like Fox.
Mr. Feist
If you want to hire bigots at CNN go ahead but I wont be watching your channel and I'll avoid your sponsors too. What happened to fair and balanced reporting? Maybe you miss Glen Beck. What kind of a bonehead decision is this?
Dennis Mooney
I can't understand why CNN would sully its reputation by putting someone like Erick Erickson on the air. There is no excuse for allowing this hateful and bigoted speech to represent one of the major networks. It's just one more reason to turn off the TV.
Margaret Thomas
1000 21st St.
Rock Island IL 61201
309 786 6944
Has CNN lost it's mind? What would inspire an otherwise respectable news
network to hire the likes of Hatemonger Erickson? If it is to get a
"Conservative" point of view this reflects very poorly on Conservatives if
no one could be found within their ranks who still sticks to the actual
facts and does not drip ugly racist and sexist venom all over the place.
CNN was ever so much improved in our eyes when Glenn Beck moved to Fox.
Prior to this move we carefully avoided watching CNN during his time slot. I
might add that we, as early cable subscribers, have been CNN fans since
CNN's inception and often recommended CNN to friends as a reason to get
cable. Presently we have been recommending CNN as a more balanced option
than some choices. If Erickson is to be inflicted on us, we will quickly be
ex-viewers and our positive recommendations to others will certainly stop.
Thank you,
Ann Black
Cincinnati, OH
Political Director Sam Feist
Cable News Network
Turner Broadcasting Company
Atlanta, GA
Dear Sam,
I am writing to you regarding the proposed hiring of Erick Erickson. I would like you to give serious thought to reconsidering this hire.
I realize that news media continues to believe it must entertain viewers and that the ability to stimulate consumers who are fed increasingly shocking doses of entertainment requires driving the bottom line ever lower. While I consider that concern incredibly misguided, I recognize that it is a common perception among news agencies (and their stockholders whose interests are considered paramount) given what I see on television and hear on the radio. Given that consideration, a racist, misogynist and homophobic shock jock who advocates political violence is a perfect fit.
But I would like you to consider the fact that at one time CNN was actually a respectable news medium. Wisely or not, people actually trusted what they heard on your station. CNN provided at least the appearance of accuracy, fairness and newsworthiness in its reporting if not a modicum of substance. Clearly the Limbaughs of the world were already with us, but they were seen by most people as the fringe, especially in comparison with CNN.
I believe any remaining social capital you may continue to command as a news organization is endangered by this hire. Not only has this man demonstrated an incapacity to present ideas in a credible â┚¬“ not to mention civil – fashion, he is in effect little more than a hatemonger. The idea that your organization would use public airwaves to inflict this misanthropy upon the public ought to give you second thoughts about this hiring.
If you are not willing to consider the public interest and the common good here, please consider the lower levels of moral reasoning that speak strictly to your own interests as a business. Fox News has its niche and its viewers. But the chances it will ever expand to a larger viewing public are limited precisely by its insistence upon imposing folks like Erick Erickson upon a public who may demand stimulation but are probably a bit more thoughtful if not civil than the fare they receive at Fox. Why would CNN want to follow suit?
Clearly the decision is yours. But I would suggest that it is ultimately in the best interest of all parties concerned to reconsider hiring Erick Erickson.
Sincerely,
Harry S. Coverston, Ph.D., J.D., M.Div.
Orlando, FL
Sir,
The once respected CNN is beginning to look too much like FOX with the hiring of Erik Erickson. Have you checked out this man's ramblings? Please reconsider before jumping into the pool of the screaming right-wing fringe. This situation is worrisome at best.
I hope you are listening.
Thank you.
Dear Mr. Feist:
It is hard for me to understand how Erick Erickson can be considered an appropriate political commentator on CNN. His comments are so vicious that it is hard to know how to characterize them. What do YOU say about his calling a White House spokesperson â┚¬Ã…“Josef Goebbels?â┚¬Ã‚ How do YOU characterize his saying that â┚¬Ã…“ugly feminists should return to their kitchens?â┚¬Ã‚ Even if you can find some way to rationalize these, what do YOU say about his calling Justice Souter a â┚¬Ã…“goat-fucking child molester?â┚¬Ã‚ If CNN is so desperate to â┚¬Ã…“competeâ┚¬Ã‚ with Glenn Beck that it has to find somebody worse than him to fill the â┚¬Ã…“shockâ┚¬Ã‚ niche, it may be done for. How about this â┚¬” offer a really smart, well-spoken, persuasive commentator who actually knows something and can build an audience over time? In any event, not to know that Erickson is beneath CNN makes any CNN executive responsible for hiring him unfit for the job.
Sincerely,
Frank Couvares
Why are you hiring RedState.com editor Erick Erickson as a "political commentator"? Do we really need one more inflammatory idiot on TV comparing Obama to Hitler??? You had the sense to drop Lou Dobbs – then you do this? Show some real guts and stop giving air time to people who are only interesting in stirring up lynch mobs.
Dear Mr. Feist,
When I was growing up in a small suburban town in the 50's, there was a young man up the street who lived with his mother and who was born with some mental deficiency. He frequently had angry outbursts, called people ugly names, used profanity and said hateful things about those on the block from other cultures/religions. When he wandered off, the neighbors would see him back home; when he came by and the other kids were eating, we would offer him food and make sure he was all right; the other mothers on the block would watch out for his mother. The things he said, I'm sure, were things he heard around the town and around his family and he was just repeating them a little louder. While everyone was concerned about his wellbeing and did their best to make sure he was safe, no one put him on our street corner to call people names and say hateful things to a crowd.
I urge you to error on the side of reason in your choice of political commentators and make hiring choices that will intelligently illuminate the issues and different points of view rather than mirror the hate and prejudice that may well dwell in Mr. Erickson's "…small-town America…". I'm sure hate sells, but there are plenty of other media outlets filling that need.
I have been a faithful watcher of CNN for years. I don't have much respect for most other networks(especially FOX) because they are unbalanced. CNN gives always both sides of a story.
Now, you have decided to let a hatemonger be a political commentator on one of your programs. I wonder how John King feels about this decision? He seems to be too much of a gentleman to feel comfortable with that decision. I think you are being unfair to John King. His program might not even get a chance to succeed with a person like Erick Erickson. Do we really need people like that on CNN?
I might just give up watching CNN for good when you don't reconsider your decision.
Dear Sam,
From what FAIR has sent me concerning Erick Erickson, I am puzzled as to how he was selected to be on CNN? I thought CNN had more class than that or has Erick been misquoted?
"He's an all-around nasty human being who, upon Justice David Souter's retirement, called him "the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court" (Crooks and Liars, 5/1/09). He declared that White House spokesperson Linda Douglass "really is the Joseph Goebbels of the White House healthcare shop" (TPM, 10/12/09). Meanwhile, he suggested that Obama might be worse than Hitler, writing, "Does it say more about the IOC or Obama that the IOC gave Hitler the Olympics, but not Obama?"
As if that weren't enough, he's also an advocate of political violence (Yglesias, 4/1/09):
At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to Hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator's house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?
At some point soon, it will happen. It'll be over an innocuous issue. But the rage is building. It's not a partisan issue…. Were I in Washington state, I'd be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government apparatchiks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation.
(Note that the tyranny to which he was calling for armed resistance involved regulation of dishwashing soap.)"
Sincerely,
Mares Hirchert
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. . . We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.
— Albert Einstein
Politically conservative is welcome, as are all reasonable points of view. But Venomous Bigot and Hatemonger? They should be outcasts in our society — certainly not provided a forum with the prestige of CNN as a backer. Unless the reputation of CNN is not important to you.
CNN has apparently come a long way. And now the Wrong Way.
Bob Armao
bob_armao@yahoo.com
Subject: You have *GOT* to be kidding…..
Erick Erickson? A newscaster? This does NOT fit well with my hopes of CNN returning to real news. Erickson is a KNOWN racist, boor, and mysoginist, with no apologies for any of it. This is not the type of man I want to tell my friends to watch.
You can now officially change your name to Fox(2) News. It suits you so much better with his hiring.
An EX-viewer,
Don XXXXX
Dear Sir,
We cannot believe that CNN would hire someone as far off the political mainstream as Mr. Erickson. Not that he represents an extreme position, positions that we need to be aware of from time to time. Rather his expression is of the intolerance that we associate with the town hall meetings where reason takes a back seat to fear, disinformation, and hate. Where yelling participants would not grant to others the rights they demand for themselves. CNN enhances the public debate when it educates, not smears, when it informs, not denigrates.
Surely CNN can find a conservative representative that does his cause proud. Please don't contribute to the coarseness of the public dialog and the cynicism of the electorate.
Sincerely,
Donald Hartley, Warren Stetzel, and Ted Cope
Subject line: missing Message: the days, long ago, when CNN was the news station of choice and I actually turned to it first. Erik Hatemongerson? Please let me wake up from this nightmare and be able to watch CNN once again â┚¬“ l left when the smiley couples and the right wing idiots who must have seemed like the way to build audience to you took over. Maybe there will be enough teapartiers out there to keep your rantings â┚¬“ I mean ratings â┚¬“ up. For your sake I hope so. For America\'s sake, I hope not.
As a former resident of New Hampshire, your hiring the jerk who called David Souter â┚¬Ã…“"the only goat-fucking child molester to ever serve on the Supreme Court" to hold any position at all at CNN is beyond comprehension.
Alex Pirie
Somerville, MA
Please Don't hire Erick Erickson
…
Fri, March 19, 2010 11:27:02 AM
From:
R. S. Murray
…
View Contact
To: sam.feist@turner.com
Dear Mr. Feist:
My husband and I now enjoy watching many CNN news programs at different times of the day. We are extremely disappointed and upset that you are hiring Erick Erickson to join your political staff.
If he goes on, we go off of CNN.
Mr. Erickson has proven by his statements to be a hate-monger. He is racist and rabidly against our President, Barak Obama. Anyone has a right to disagree vocally with our president, but Mr. E. takes it too far by being racist and accusing this administration of being Natzis.
His rude, crude comments against women (especially feminists) prove that he is a hateful misogynist who has zero understanding of women's situation, talents and needs.
He also is homophobic. In addition, he encourages physical violence and murder against politicians.
Mr. Feist, if you hire Erick Erickson to join your staff, Many, many others and I will wonder, "Where are your standards of professionalism and excellence, which we now enjoy?". We will also change our channels away from CNN and rely on MSNBC and others to supply our news and political updates and opinions.
Our country needs more cooperative persons and those who spread good will, not hate- and violence-mongers like Erick Erickson. For everyone's sake, including CNN's, please do not hire him.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully yours,
Rebecca S. Murray and Joseph Paradise