Making ABCnews.com pay for excluding Ron Paul!

Dittoed my rant on ABCnews.com message board.  (Signup required)

Used their private feedback form

Commented elsewhere their site: here, here, etc...

Bitched about it on other online forums -- post links below.

Sent them an e-mail (see below).

Sent an angry letter to ABC / Disney.

Sent an angry fax to ABC / Disney.

Made an angry phone call to ABC / Disney.

Sent an angry letter to their sponsors.

Sent an angry fax to their sponsors.

Made an angry phone call to their sponsors.

Dugg this or similar articles.

[Alex Libman]

Here's some contact info I've found:

ABC News Headquarters
Address 147 Columbus Ave New York, NY 10023
Tel 212-456-1000 (DC Bureau 202-222-7777)
Fax 212-456-5962
Letters comments@abcnews.go.com 

ABC News Washington Bureau
Address 1717 DeSales St NW, Washington DC 20036
Tel 202-222-7300
Fax 202-222-7684
DC Bureau Chief Robin Sproul robin.sproul@abc.com 202-222-7200

World News Tonight with Peter Jennings
Tel 212-456-4040 
Fax 212-456-2795 
Letters netaudr@abc.com
Anchor Peter Jennings peter.jennings@abc.com 212-456-4025
Executive Producer Paul Friedman paul.friedman@abc.com

Nightline
Address 1717 DeSales St NW, Washington DC 20036 
Tel 202-222-7000
Fax 202-222-7976
Letters niteline@abc.com
Anchor Ted Koppel ted.koppel@abc.com 202-222-7364
Executive Producer Tom Bettag tom.bettag@abc.com
 
20/20
Address 147 Columbus Ave, New York NY 10023 
Tel 212-456-2020
Fax 212-456-0533/1470
Letters 2020@abc.com
Anchors Barbara Walters barbara.walters@abc.com
212-456-7050, Sam Donaldson sam.donaldson@abc.com
 
Good Morning America
Address 147 Columbus Ave, New York NY 10023 
Tel 212-456-5900
Fax 212-456-7257/7290
Letters netaudr@abc.com
Anchors Charles Gibson charles.gibson@abc.com,
Diane Sawyer diane.sawyer@abc.com

Don't worry about hitting the appropriate department / show, a hit-or-miss rapid fire approach might be the best.  If anyone can get John Stossel on this, that would be great!

Please post other ways, online and off, in which the magnitude of their insult can be expressed.  I hope someone in FL / CA will organize DisneyLand / World protests!  It doesn't have to be a huge crowd, just enough for a photo-op that can then be spread online.


UPDATE:  first there was the bad news - the whole thread I started (link in item 1 in this poll) and hundreds of other posts / comments on their Web-site were deleted.  Then, all of a sudden, good news - they gave in and reset the poll, including all ten debate participants!  Ron Paul now winning by a mile! 

So no further action is needed.  Please disregard the rest of this thread, but it'll be left for historical purposes.  Good thing I didn't drop off those letters yet...

[theghostofbj]

[EclecticBuddha]

OOh what about contacting your local affiliates and complaining???  couldn't hurt I say

[EclecticBuddha]

Stossel!!!
"JohnStossel@abcnews.com" <JohnStossel@abcnews.com>

[Alex Libman]

Most (or all?) e-mails I've sent so far have bounced, but sending a letter is just as easy if you have a print / fax service.

My letter-writing skills are awful, but you go to war with an army you have, not an army you wish you had...   

Here's what I'd write.  If you have better ideas / suggestions, please post.

Dear [[[name, if known, otherwise "Sir or Madam"]]],

The ABC News Web-site is currently running an opinion poll at <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BeSeenBeHeard/popup?id=3135373> asking, "Who do you think came out on top at the Republican debate?"  And yet the poll options omit Ron Paul, the only participant of that debate to stand out from the pack and offer GOP voters a real alternative!

According to numerous other polls, Ron Paul gained significant ground in this debate by offering an honest, verifiably consistent, and principled pro-liberty position.  The online poll advertised during the MSNBC-aired debate shows him having the most favorable rating of all ten participants!  I understand that you may not be the person in charge of online content, but this error now stand uncorrected for the third day, and I truly hope you will be able to rectify the situation.  There can be no excuse for not including him in your poll, and it cannot possibly be an accident!

Millions of Americans like myself consider this an abomination, a clear example of corporate sabotage of the democratic process!  Ron Paul supporters are a very dedicated group of people who will not tolerate this grave and deliberate insult!  We demand that you correct the oversight immediately, reset the poll, and offer your readers and viewers an apology!  If this issue remains uncorrected, massive protests and boycotts of ABC / Disney and its sponsors are sure to follow!

Best regards,
[[[your real name]]]

[Taors]

I used that feedback thingy.

[EclecticBuddha]

I have some stamps laying around... they will be used.  For now, though I have to go to work.  I'll clock back in sometime tonight and keep the barrage going.

[wtfk]

Don't get too carried away.  Make sure they know you're upset, but realize, they tolerate Stossel's libertarian message even if they probably don't like it (he basically bargains with them to allow him to get out the libertarian message--check out his books.)  You probably want to avoid killing the golden goose, and you can do that by telling them it's upsetting what happened and that you appreciate the libertarian messages that do get broadcast by their stations.

[Taors]

DOWN WITH FUCKING ABC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[error]

They put Ron Paul back in, and now Ron Paul is the far and away winner.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/BeSeenBeHeard/popup?id=3135373

[Taors]

Holy shit. They just put him up and he's got over a thousand votes?!

[voodoo]

OMFG!  That's too funny!   

[EclecticBuddha]

yeah dude i laughed out loud when i saw it... very entertaining stuff.  I wish it would have been done right from the start.

[Alex Libman]

One might think it's because they made it more difficult to navigate to the poll from the main site, so the only people hitting it are those who have the URL - people reading the "ABC snubbed Ron Paul" threads like this all over the blogosphere.  Not sure if that's a valid concern or not.

The typical route to it might be:

• (1) Google "abc news", click the first result.

• (2) Click "Politics" tab in the header.

• (3) Hover mouse over photo on top-left of the page, and click "Next" until you get to an illustration of Reagan puppet-mastering the candidates.  Not sure what depth effect this adds.  Ironically, the caption reads "Debate gives three Republican favorites a stronger hold on front-runner status".  Click that image.

• (4) The article doesn't mention Ron Paul at all.  Click "Vote" to the right of the article text.  If you don't get the pop-up, it might be your blocker.  There have other articles related to that debate, but I didn't notice them lining to this poll - let me know if I missed something.

Still, I think they're mocking us somehow.  Maybe they even started the poll with Paul ahead by 1000 just to demonstrate how meaningless all of this is.  I feel... depressed.

[Rillion]

Have to say, Mike Gravel is impressing me quite a bit too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gMlHv2lDqA