The Black Republican

As the gentleman from Rathergate.com says in the AP article that also quoted you, "The buck has to stop." And I regret to say, it seems Mr. Rather - by first his stalling, and now his dissembling - has asked you to stop it from getting up to him.

I can understand that as a CBS affiliate for many years, your station is limited in the power it has to disassociate itself from particular shows and specific personalities carried by the network. So if I said that I'm not going to watch the CBS Evening News while Dan Rather continues his employment at CBS, I could understand that you'd take my word with a grain of salt. Besides which, from his ratings you'd probably assume (correctly) that I don't really watch CBS News very much anyway.

However, a strange thing happened last night. As much as I am opposed to formal boycotts, I was amazed to find that I received absolutely no enjoyment from watching the season premiere of two of my favorite TV series: "Joan of Arcadia" and "JAG". I expect from the visceral reaction I felt, I would probably sense the same feelings from watching "NCIS" when it debuts on Tuesday. But it also occurred to me that I may avoid these reactions and their unintended by-products (the benefit to you through your advertisers) if I simply refrained from watching each of these shows and waited a year for them to arrive in the store on DVD - when I can see them without commercials and without enriching you or your network.

Expect that I will continue to avoid these shows, and any others broadcast by your station, as long as my stomach can't handle the revulsion of rewarding by association Dan Rather's breach of journalistic standards, professional ethics, and common decency. As long as you are not effective in forcing a correction upon your associates at the network level, I guess the buck will remain with you.

By the way... don't assume that I'm incapable of fulfilling my threat. Being more tuned to the computer these days, I don't watch much TV anyway, so losing these few hours should not be too much of a hardship. And if I find myself bored and weakening in my resolve, there are less reputable ways I know of that I can use to satisfy my craving for series television, ways that I tend to shy away from because I prefer to remain true to my own ethics and my respect for copyright law. I may just decide to follow Mr. Rather's example and bend a few of those ethical prohibitions for the duration.

I hope you will not tolerate the network's disloyalty to you, their viewers, and the truth any longer than necessary.

UPDATE: It appears Mr. Gardner is in the office, working his way through the hurricane.

Dear Mr. O'Conor,

Thank you for your recent email. I will be forwarding your comments to CBS
Affiliate Relations along with my own
thoughts and suggestions pertaining to Dan Rather and the 60 Minutes story
on President Bush's National Guard service.

I am strongly recommending that the investigation into the internal
practices of CBS News be conducted in a matter of weeks;
that the complete findings and report be made public; and that CBS take the
necessary corrective measures, including swift disciplinary action, required
to restore the credibility of CBS News with mainstream America.

I can assure you that WINK-TV will continue to provide you with local news
and weather that is accurate, fair, and balanced.

We take great pride in being voted "The Best" TV Station here in Southwest
Florida, as well as being one of the most respected local news operations in
the state of Florida.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

We very much value you as a viewer.

Sincerely,

Gary Gardner
General Manager
WINK-TV