Editing to destroy individuals.

[Jake Williams]

Couldn’t help but chime in on the ring of opinion so far expressed:

Political ads like these are of course examples of the worst side of free speech but vitriolic statements have been used in political media for years by countless artists, satirists etc. Why blame the editor? Why not examine the system it exists within. Write your state and federal congressman and encourage him/her to introduce mandatory public campaign financing law. Direct your anger where it can help to reform the system.

Jake Williams

[Stephen Schott]

Jake,
Not sure what you mean?
I thought the discussion was about the content of such political spots or any other spot, for that matter. Also, I think the discussion was going towards a moral compass and should or should we not accept jobs dependent on our own person morals as editors. I may not be thinking all of this through, but what does finance reform have to do with content of a spot? It may affect how much money they can put towards the spots, it distribution, and frequency of air, but content? I guess it depends on the bill.
BUT, to address your comments, don’t we already have the power to quiet this (if we want to)? We have the power, at the primaries, to vote for those that don’t carry the torch for the status quo. But to try and force politicians to have a moral compass through legislation is silly, IMHO. Let them shine like this. Then we know what we are all voting for. They still get voted in, majority rules and I can become more active.

Stephen Schott
12Basket Productions

“When you’ve got family, everything else is extra”