Public Please

I recently read the New York Times article, “Kucinich Should Be Allowed To Debate, Judge Rules” by Brian Stelter, and posted the following comment:

“The New York Times continues to participate in the silencing of Dennis Kucinich. Consider the fact that this article fails to mention the fact that Kucinich was also unfairly excluded from the Des Moines Register debate in Iowa. And consider the way they this article overemphasizes his candidacy as a long-shot. And consider the way the New York Times excluded Kucinich in its interactive debate analysis, “Naming Names”. I applaud Judge Thompson for his fairness. Call the FCC commissioners and let them know that you want them to investigate the ways in which broadcasters have excluded Kucinich from the debates. I called Commissioner Copps office and told him to issue a public statement that it would be in the public interest to include Kucinich in the televised debates. His staffers told me they would call me back, but they never did. Call Commissioner Copps office at 202-418-2000.”

Unfortunately, my comment has not been accepted yet, and no reason was given to me. I read the Comments FAQ, which describes how the NYTimes vets each comment before it is published, and how they welcome criticism, but the FAQ does not describe any process for explaining or justifying their decision to censor a posted comment. For example, the FAQ does NOT describe any process for being notified via email that your comment was rejected or why it was rejected. I would like to know why the NYTimes has not posted my comment yet. Is it because they have not reviewed it yet? Or is it because they have reviewed and decided to censor it? And if they decided to censor it, why? Is it because my post has several typos? Whatever typos my post had did not significantly effect its comprehension. So that could not be a good reason to censor it. Is it because I criticized them? Is it because I asked others to call a publicly available phone number of an unelected official with power over their industry?

How long will the New York Times censor us and our critical comments?

How long will they prevent us from creating links to their own online articles in our comments? I wish I could have linked to the Naming Names article in my comment to show the other readers how the NYTimes excluded Kucinich from their debate analysis. Political censorship is a norm we must challenge in all its forms, especially in the corporate media, and especially when it silences peaceful reform.