Friday, March 09, 2007

Letter to CNN

After days of bitching to my roomate and anyone else who will listen, I tried complaining directly to the source.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am disappointed with the complete lack of coverage regarding the French presidential elections which are now almost ONE-month away.

Unfortunately, I could fathom why domestic US CNN may not carry much content on anything not of direct interest to the general American public. However, as a US citizen living and working abroad, I watch CNN INTERNATIONAL frequently and am very disappointed to have seen not one segment or report on this critical election happening in a very important EU state.

Instead, CNN International IS saturated with news of the US's 2008 election...still TWENTY-ONE months away.

My French friends tell me that their country is in the midst of a serious identity crisis and these elections could prove pivotal for the future.

As Chirac held the post of Prime Minister and then Mayor of Paris before taking Presidential office, my friends in their 20s have not yet lived a day when Jacques Chirac was not a dominant figure in political life. This is France's first chance in over two decades to have a change in leadership.

My friends also describe candidate Sarkozy as "the French George Bush." In the meantime candidate Bayrou labels himself as the French version of a Bill Clinton or a Tony Blair.

If even these comparisons aren't enough to make our American-centric news agencies pay some attention, I'm not sure what is.

If CNN International truly intends to report global news, I implore you to report much more about elections happening outside the US.

Thank you.

Sent today via http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?37. Send one, it's fun.

In the meantime, here's at least one article worth reading about France's ignored Presidential race.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

My French friends say Sarkozy is the one who can guide France out of the sclerotic economic and social situation it has been in for decades.

One of his closest advisers, by the way, is Patrick Devedjian, the French-Armenian politician.

Sarkozy is a strong supporter of Armenian causes. He is also against the entry of Turkey to the European Union.

Liborale

Dylan said...

did u get a reply from them?

artate said...

"Thank you for taking the time to submit your comments on the "Top Stories" of the day on CNN.com! It is very important for us to know what our viewers are feeling and we value your response. This is how we are able to consider changes that will appeal to you, our valued viewer.

Due to the volume of emails we receive, we do not personally reply to emails sent through this section. However, we pride ourselves in making the opinions of our viewers known to CNN senior management and producers. Your comments will be part of the Viewer Response Report provided to our news division on the next business day.

Thanks again for your interest and keep your browser pointed to http://www.cnn.com/.

Sincerely,

CNN Public Information"



I have since sent 3 more, to different e-mail addresses. We'll see.

Try "yourviews@cnn.com".

artate said...

Email from my dad :)

_________________________

Nooshig, after reading the article about French elections that you posted on your blog, I noticed the error in their selection of the picture, which prompted me to write my first ever letter (e-mail) to the editor :)

Note: forwarded message attached.


---------- Forwarded message ------From:
To: letters@iht.com
Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2007 18:59:02 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Photo Third candidate upends French presidential race

Why does a photo of a woman with the caption: "François Bayrou, the centrist candidate to the 2007 French presidential election" appear with this article?

Is there a confusion about Mr. Francois Bayrou's gender?

Dylan said...

good job daddy tatevossian!

Emily Tavoulareas said...

oh tatevossians... i heart you all :)