Angela's First Pissed off Blog:

Hey you guys!

I was a bit pissed Monday at the lack of coverage for our rally on Sunday. The count is now as high as 1,150,000 people. So I wrote something I am going to leave on NPR's listener comment line. I wanted to know what you think. Let me know.

Angela

I copied it in and attched in case you could not read. It should end w/ my name and city...just in case you dont' see that. Sometimes Yahoo doesn't let me paste all that i'd like.

So much for in-depth news and intelligent talk:

I attended the Rally for Women’s lives on Sunday, April 25, 2004 with over one million, one hundred fifty thousand other people.

Having left DC immediately following the rally we returned to STL 10 am Monday the 26th. After hurriedly gathering our things we rushed to the car radio in anticipation of the “in-depth” coverage NPR is known for.



We had missed Morning Edition and Andrea Seabrook’s story but expected to hear at the very least blurb at the top of the next hour. Much to our dismay and outrage…by the time our radios were tuned in -11 am the day AFTER the Rally, the Rally For Women’s Lives was old news. Throughout the rest of the day I listened anxiously…surely All things considered would go in depth. I waited w/ baited breath…and got nothing.



All the headlines read at the top of the hour had to do w/ Iraq or Afghanistan or some other war-torn country. I know these are important issues. I sympathize and want to know about them. I know they are relevant and that many Americans have loved ones there fighting for the people of those countries. But these reports are daily and on-going. We get the body counts and reports of yet more bombings. But NPR please…what about the women who inhabit these United States? What about the women, men, children, students, mothers, fathers, daughters who traveled all that way to our nation’s capital to speak up for the travesties of justice in women’s health and welfare? Why only one story? Why not go in-depth every day as you do for so many other stories? Legislation threatening to limit women’s health screenings and availability of information, education and access are up for debate in many states across the country. Why are we not hearing about this from you NPR?



Talk to me …talk to my friends, the politicians and celebrities that traveled across the heartland, through time zones and in some cases from one coast to the other to fight for precious rights that are threatened so severely so many would come together to protect them.



If it was not for the Diane Rehm show on Tuesday there would have been nothing more than the one report. I have been an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of NPR and my local NPR station for years. I have grown to respect and look up to the kind of reporting I hear daily. But this time I feel as though the efforts of so many has fallen on deaf ears. Like our president, you have down played, even minimized the importance of what we came together for on Sunday. It’s a shame. I thought you would have done more. I thought you would do our rally justice. I thought you, of all organizations, would be fair. I was wrong and sorely disappointed.