ekblaw@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (12/06/85)
Well, Jerry, maybe you've finally learned something about the national mass media circuit. These people have great power, do their best to influence others, yet will not admit when they are wrong! You see, these people believe that admitting a wrong makes one look less-than-perfect, and they fear that an image of that sort will tarnish their affectiveness at influencing public opinion. Unfortunately, 60 Minutes is one of the worst cases of this. I know, as last year I tried to deal with them on a segment I thought poorly researched. I, too, received the form letter, sent two more letters (one angry and one sympathetic yet forcefully) and received nothing in return. I eventually gave up. I do still watch the program, mainly to see how badly they report things. By the way, it may interest you to know that 60 Minutes and other network news are not the only biased and one-sided mass media. Several newspapers (including The Daily Illini, published at the University of Illinois) have a reputation of heavy political or other bias. Even the net is not immune to it (take a look at some of the notes in net.sport.football!). I guess bias is a way of life, and there is no avoiding it. We can only prevent its further spread. Robert A. Ekblaw