... that I was utterly embarrassed by the network's handling of last night's debate -- though not terribly surprised. (See my note at the end of this diary.)
Here is the email I just sent to Mr. Salinger, et al.:
As someone who worked for Janice Tomlin, Dan Goldfarb and Pam Hill in the late 80s while in college, I was completely appalled by the childish tenor and utter superficiality of the questions posed by Mssrs. Gibson and Stephanopoulos last night.
ABC News achieved a new low in presidential debate moderation. If the questions had been gathered from random people on the subway, more light would have been shed on the plans and qualifications of these two candidates.
I was utterly ashamed by the performance of a news network whose name I once was proud to have on my resumé. No longer.
And here are the emails which I sent the letter (also posted in other diaries). If you have more, please post them below... along with your own letters, emails and comments:
peter.salinger@abc.com, cristi.d.landes@abc.com, wayne.fisk@abc.com, jeffrey.t.fitzgerald@abc.com, heidi.b.oringer@abc.com, jonathan.m.newman@abc.com, joyce.a.alcantara@abc.com, james.f.kane@abc.com, andrew.l.kalb@abc.com, robert.garcia@abc.com
Finally, a personal note: I have had, over the years, some interactions with top ABC executives. At a funeral, the then-president of the network stormed off after we got into a discussion of the Iran/Contra scandal. He declared that Bill Casey was "the greatest patriot this country has ever known" (George Washington, Abe Lincoln, FDR, MLK... chopped liver compared to Casey), who apparently did the country a great service by undermining the constitution.
In short, last night's debate was not so much a change in the media's outlook, but rather a change in that ABC no longer feels the need to maintain any pretense of objectivity and wisdom.
UPDATE: ultraslacker and others have posted more extensive email lists in the comments.