It's Time To Fire The Loudmouths: An Open Letter to Fox, CNN & MSNBC

An Open Letter to:

Rupert Murdoch, CEO Fox News
Jeffrey L. Bewkes, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc.
Jeff Zucker, President of NBC Universal

Gentlemen:

I am writing this letter to express my concern over what I see as the deterioration of civil discourse in American society.

Your cable news networks reach an astonishing number of people throughout the country and around the world. Each of your networks provides valuable news and information to your viewers. Each of your networks also, however, is guilty of stirring up hate, bigotry, racism and fear in the very population you have pledged to serve.

I am speaking, of course, about your "non-news" programs - the programs that mix news, opinion and entertainment. These types of programs are unprecedented in the history of news gathering and reporting and I believe that they represent a real danger to American society.

By airing these types of shows in the evening and "prime time" hours, you are presenting entertainment and opinion as "news," which it is not. Between your three primary networks (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC) there is not a single program that broadcasts purely news after 4PM. Instead, there is a lineup of overly-dramatic programs and opinionated talkers - all spouting their alarmist theories, telling outright lies and badmouthing each other. There is no debate and no opposing points of view are allowed. Some have even revealed themselves to be outright racists and bigots. By displaying a news ticker at the bottom of the screen, you further validate these programs as actual news and validate the opinions of the commentators. Their hateful and vitriolic speech goes right up to the limit of free speech as defined by the Constitution, and they take no responsibility for the potential consequences of their words.

So, I'm asking each of you to do the American public a favor and stop broadcasting these programs in lieu of actual news. Bring back the "old style" news and honest debate. Bring back investigative journalism. Reporters and anchors should report - and shut up. The bond of trust between news anchors and the viewing public has been broken and needs to be restored.

We as a society need to return to honest debate and discussion about the issues of the day. Right now, we yell at each other from our entrenched positions - never actually listening to what the other side has to say, and never actually trying to understand opposing viewpoints. We make up our minds on an issue without fully understanding it - a consequence of lax reporting, opinionated journalists and financial agendas set by each of your companies.

What does it say about network news when a large portion of the American populace reports that they get their news from Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert? It says that your three networks are failing in their mandate to serve the public.

As proof that you are serious about a return to public service, you need to cancel every single show that features an opinionated loudmouth as it's main host. All of them. It's the only way to be completely fair. Any columnist that wants their show back must be held accountable to high standards of decency and fairness.

Will it cost you viewers? Yes. Will it cost you money? Yes. But America needs this. Your job is to educate and inform the public and then let us make up our own minds - a task in which you all have failed miserably.

Do the right thing. Bring back real news.