OntheWilderSide

Hat/tip to Green Party Watch

Illinois Green Party US Senate candidate LeAlan Jones is asking supporters to contact NBC to ask that Jones be included in an October 10th episode of Meet the Press in which candidates for US Senate from Illinois will debate:

I just sent the following letter to NBC News president Steve Capus. As you can see, they are trying to keep me out of the Meet the Press debate on October 10th.

I urge everyone to call “Meet The Press” and ask them: “Let LeAlan debate!”. The number is 202-885-4598.

September 20, 2010

Steve Capus
NBC News
30 Rockefeller Center
New York, NY 10112

Dear Mr Capus,

I am writing you in regards to your October 10th debate between Illinois U.S. Senate candidates Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias on your program “Meet The Press.” Despite repeated attempts by my campaign staff to contact someone from the program, we have been ignored.

I am no minor candidate. As the only African-American running for this historically African-American U.S. Senate seat, I have been polling as high as 14% with 30% in Illinois’ sizable African-American community. These are unprecedented levels for a Green Party candidate in a federal campaign.

And yet, your network is deliberately excluding me from these debates while it has been eager to cover the Tea Party and all of their “all-American” candidates.

So I ask you straight: does NBC believe it can shut out young, minority, low-income voices from its airwaves?

If this is a matter of good television, I can assure you my presence in this debate would be great television. As you may know, I am still, to this day, the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Peabody Award for my radio documentaries on NPR.

Most importantly, NBC must fulfill its public obligation to include voices beyond the corporate mainstream. The public own the airwaves and we can take them back. I encourage you to include me in the October 10th debate in the name of real democracy and freedom.

You can contact my media team at 312-94-JONES or media@lealanforsenate.com.

Sincerely,

LeAlan Jones
U.S Senate candidate
Green Party

Here is the link to a feedback form at Meet The Press. (Thanks to Common Ills) for hunting that down.

Filed under: 3rd party, Action Alert!, debate, Election 2010, Green Party, News, progressive politics, third party, US Politics Tagged: | Alexi Giannoulias, Green Party, Illinois Senate debate, Illinois Senate race, LeAlan Jones, Mark Kirk, meet the press, NBC News, Steve Capus, United States Senate