Equal Coverage of Candidates

At a time when America faces some of the most difficult foreign and domestic issues in our history, the American voters deserve and demand election campaign coverage that fully, fairly informs us about candidates' solutions, skills and integrity so that we may select the best person to lead us and unite our efforts as one nation.

At a time when America faces some of the most difficult foreign and domestic issues in our history, the American voters deserve and demand election campaign coverage that fully, fairly informs us about candidates' solutions, skills and integrity so that we may select the best person to lead us and unite our efforts as one nation.

We, the undersigned, believe that the choice we make as voters next November will be one of the most consequential we will have made in the past 60 years. We need serious, deliberate media coverage of the presidential campaign and issues foreign and domestic that will require immediate attention when the next president assumes the duties of the office in which the fate of large portions of the world may depend.

We ask that CNN and its representatives set a higher standard for the content and conduct of the Democratic debate on November 15th, the CNN/YouTube Republican debate November 28th and all subsequent candidate discussions. We respectfully ask that you give equal time to all candidates so that we can hear the views and ideas of those who may not be in the so-called top tier.  In the interest of the basic American sense of fairness, we call on you to divide the clock more equitably and ask questions that will give us clearer views of these lesser known or covered candidates.  We further request that you make every effort to give each candidate adequate time to give full and complete answers to questions that will tell us what we need to know to make informed choices.

We ask that your coverage refrain from treating these events and this election as a race, a popularity contest, a circus or a game show. We need information not entertainment, examination not odds making and handicapping.  We look to you to renew journalistic standards that give we, the people, the answers we so seriously need and once expected from the "most trusted name in news." Please show the way for your competitors in your future coverage and focus.

Thank you for your timely, deliberate consideration of our requests.