Action #1 – Write to USA Today -Tell them to apologize, in large print, on their front page.
“…it is journalistic malpractice for any newspaper to give Trump unimpeded access to its readers. And yet, that’s exactly what USA Today has done in publishing Trump’s op-ed in today’s edition” on the Medicare for All Act.
One possible script: “Hi, USA Today editors. No, you don’t have to print everything the president says. If we want to read fact-free communications from him, we can check his twitter feed 24/7. We expected better from you, because you’re supposed to be actual journalists, not members of his PR team. If you had trouble fact-checking his editorial, you could have reached out to others with more experience. Here’s some sites that had no trouble at all fact-checking his claims. Truly, a motivated fourteen-year-old with an internet connection could do it.
- (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/10/10/fact-checking-president-trumps-usa-today-op-ed-medicare-for-all/?utm_term=.451dbfaa09d3
- (LA Times) http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-trump-medicare-20181010-story.html
Editors, don’t pretend that you have no culpability in the damage caused by spreading untruths in our society. Mr. Sternberg stated that you see yourself as America’s conversational center, but there is no equal counter-balance for a sitting president’s lies and you know that. The least you could do is publish a fact-filled retraction and an apology on your front page. That’s what a real news leader would do. As Melania Trump would say, we expect you to ‘Be Best’.”
How to Contact USA TODAY:
- letters@usatoday.com (submission guidelines here)
- “Send Us A Question” – Type of Question: “Contact the Newsroom”, Direct to “Section: Opinion”, OR “Share your opinion or idea” Direct to “Commentary” or “Letters to the Editor”
- “Corrections or Clarifications” – Submit your corrections here.
Action #2 – Sign this petition
We usually don’t ask our readers to sign petitions to politicians, like Trump, who use them to pick their teeth. However, commercial operations that depend on us groundlings to keep themselves in business… yes. Petition away. Here’s one from CREDO.
INDIVISIBLE VENTURA 