An open letter to CNN
I am a mid thirties, colleage eduated, smart and independent woman. And its not often that I am as confused as I am right now.
I, as well as millions of people, watched the debate on PBS last night. I heard the same words, saw the same enthusiasm, the same occasional childish behavior that everyone else saw. In my honest, humble and probably completely irrevelant opinion, I thought that Bernie Sanders won the debate outright. His replies to attacks on Hillary Clinton's part were precise, honest and relatable. He was debating in a spirit of how a future president should. He was incredibly inspiring, he spoke in the voice of the people and he was, for the most part, right. Every online poll I researched had Bernie Sanders winning by an overwhelming majority. Yet, here on CNN Hilary Clinton was announced the winner. How is that possible? How can the press and the people hear two different things? The question is, who are these debates held for? Us, the people who are going to vote? If so, then why do still so few media outlets keep insisting on declaring the opposite of what the people said and why are we made to believe something that we clearly know is wrong? In my cirlce of friends, we all have given up on CNN as a reputable and believable source for information. We all agree that our opinions simply do not matter because whatever we believe, whatever we stand for - it doesnt reflect here on CNN. I understand what journalism is. I understand the media and how it is influnced. I left my job as a reporter years ago after hearing time and time again that it is not the truth that really matters but what gets the most readers or what aligns with the interests of our "sponsors". However, i always believed that CNN is a source I can trust and it was my number one task in the morning to read the CNN website. I can no longer do that and it frustrates me immensely. The question here is similar to the one I asked earlier. Who do you work for? Your readers or your political and financial alliences? Why are the readers so blatantly ignored? Why does the opinion of a journalist carry more weight than the voices of hundreds of thousands of people? How can we still trust CNN to give us the news in the sense it was designed for... To report news, not to make news. I really wished that Bernie Sanders supporters mattered just as much as the Trump, Clinton or Cruz supporters. In the end its not secret that the media is not independent any more. I just wish I had not lost my last little piece of hope that in this election the narrative would reflect the voices of the people, not the journalists whose job it is to report news and, again, not MAKE news.
