Media's election coverage draws objections

Cynthia Neff

San Luis Obispo Tribune   04 January 2005

A handful of protesters critical of the media's coverage of the 2004 presidential election marched with signs in front of The Tribune's San Luis Obispo office Monday.

Several of the eight demonstrators said they objected to what they called a lack of stories in The Tribune about potential voter fraud in November's balloting. They also said the American media has more closely covered discrepancies in the Ukranian election.

"The media are not doing their job in this country," said Richard Goldsmith of San Luis Obispo, clutching a sign that read: "Only a fool would trust paperless electronic voting machines."

"The Tribune is a local paper but you report global events. ... The irony is we see you reporting so much on the Ukraine election where the exit polls didn't match the votes, but almost nothing on the U.S. election discrepancies," Goldsmith said.

The protesters are calling for people to cancel their subscription to the newspaper, and to stop watching ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Fox television news.

The Tribune has used its wire services to report on problems with vote counts in several states since the Nov. 2 election, said Managing Editor Tad Weber.

"We have given the story proper coverage," he said.