This iReport is part of an assignment:
iReport for CNN
About this iReport
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Posted December 6, 2008
by
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Location
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
Assignment
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Malik Rahim: Another Candidate in Louisiana's 2nd District
CNN has a history of ignoring third party candidates, even if they have a strong campaign and more support than a Democrat or Republican. History repeats itself in CNN's coverage of the December 6th election in Louisiana's 2nd District. The incumbent Democrat William Jefferson has been indicted on 16 counts of corruption. New Orleans is not a hot spot of Republican activity, where the last Republican got 13%. A Republican hasn't held the District in over 100 years. Regardless, CNN insists on only covering the Democrat and Republican. However, there is a strong Green Party candidate in Malik Rahim. Malik founded the Common Ground Collective and brought 13,000 volunteers to the area after Hurricane Katrina. Malik and his volunteers provided free health care, housing, and other assistance to those in need. His efforts were covered on 60 minutes, ABC News, Democracy Now!, the Times-Picayune, and several others. Now he's running a strong campaign for Congress. Local volunteers and Greens across the nation are hitting the streets and making calls to get him elected. He's raised tens of thousands of dollars in small donations from individuals. However, his local paper severly underreported his donations, since they only counted large donations. Although Obama took his share of large and corporate donations, can you imagine if they didn't report the millions of small donations he received? Why is it acceptable to massage the numbers for a Green? Malik has a strong vision for the voters of New Orleans, including single payer health care, restoration of the wetlands to prevent damange from future hurricanes naturally, and a green jobs program to help restore the area battered by Hurricane Katrina. CNN and the other mainstream news outlets are doing the American people a disservice by ignoring non-corporate party candidates. I encourage them to begin to cover third party and independents in a serious manner. I also encourage citizens to do their own research and find new sources of media if they refuse to do so. Not to follow CNN's lead, I'll include the last candidate in the race. Libertarian Gregory Kahn is also making a run for the seat, but he has not made as much of an effort as Malik. Either way, CNN should still mention his name and cover his positions as well. You can read more about Malik Rahim here: http://votemalik.com/ http://www.independentpoliticalreport.com/2008/12/louisiana-2nd-congressional-district-debate-includes-green-malik-rahim-and-libertarian-gregory-kahn/ http://www.greenpartywatch.org/2008/12/04/yet-another-green-blackout-in-the-media/
- TAGS:
- ireport_for_cnn,
- green,
- party,
- malik,
- rahim,
- third,
- party,
- candidates,
- 2008_election,
- green
- GROUPS:
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