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Old January 14th 04, 09:56 PM
Geoffrey Barnes
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Not that it will do any good, but I sent the following to CBS:

I am writing, with no expectations of it having any effect, to express my
grave dissatisfaction with the promotional spots you are running for this
evening's newscasts. In these spots, you promise to reveal the grave
security threat that general aviation airports pose to our country. These
spots - and presumably the report you intend to run this evening - are
focused on a threat that is at best extremely remote.

Like almost any other pilot, I could cite any number of reasons why this
nation's light aircraft present far less of a threat than nearly every other
means of transportation. The simple fact, however, is that your
organization isn't even remotely concerned with telling the other side of
the story. Any number of national organizations, such as the Airplane
Owners and Pilot's Association (AOPA), would have happily granted on-camera
interviews for this story if they had been invited to do so. Since CBS News
failed to take even this basic and obvious step, one can only conclude that
your broadcast will reflect only one reporter's misguided understanding of
the world.

CBS News is not serving the public interest with this report, and is not
adhering to it's commitment to use the public airwaves in a responsible
manner.

In closing, I want to assure you that my letter should not be taken as an
indicator that I will be viewing your broadcast this evening. I also won't
bore you with threats to boycott your broadcasts in the future. The truth
of the matter is that my family simply gave away our television three years
ago, and have never looked back. A big part of our decision to do so came
from being exposed to over-hyped, inaccurate, and uninformative news reports
such as this one. In fact, I urge to continue on the road you have chosen.
Every time you present something that a good number of people know to be
patently false, you impugn your credibility with the public even further.
Eventually, you just may offend everyone enough to get them to follow my
family's example.