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St Petersburg Times Admits Bias in Terri Schiavo Case
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| 05-07-04
| Cheryl Ford, RN
Posted on 05/07/2004 4:50:07 PM PDT by phenn
To: Fight4Terri Supporters
Re: St PetersBurg Times Admits Bias
From: Cheryl Ford RN
Above is an email from the Associated Editor and Columnist for the St. Petersburg Times, and his response to one of Fight4Terri Action Group Volunteers, regarding the unfair coverage of the Terri Schiavo case.
What Mr. Dyckman is, essentially, saying is that he feels no obligation to do anything to balance out the coverage of Terri's plight because he, PERSONALLY, is not in agreement.
This is a serious, blatant and outrageous encroachment on freedom of speech and no newspaper in this country has the authority to limit editorial or opinion content based on their own PERSONAL set of opinions.
This should come to you as an absolute outrage. However, it should come as NO surprise. For nearly a year, the St. Petersburg Times has advocated Terri's death and REFUSED to report on the violations of the guardianship codes and the ongoing neglect Terri is made to endure.
If I were of a minority heritage submitting a commentary and were halted by an editor with a dislike of my ethnic background, would you not be outraged?
If I were a disabled person submitting a commentary and were turned away because of an editor's personal fear of disability, would you not be outraged?
If I were a poor or homeless person submitting a commentary and had the door shut on me because of an editor's prejudice against the less fortunate, would you not be outraged?
That is EXACTLY what has happened here.
The next time you wonder to yourself why the people in Pinellas County, Florida aren't up in arms over what is being done to Terri
Schindler-Schiavo, an innocent and helpless woman trapped in the grips of a neglectful guardian and an apathetic system, refer back to what you're about to read here.
Better yet, contact Mr. Dyckman and tell him precisely why his response is so outrageous and un-American.
Martin Dyckman - Associate editor and columnist
Dyckman@sptimes.com
St. Petersburg Times
336 East College Avenue
Tallahassee, FL 32301
850-224-6394
TOPICS: Editorial; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: terrischiavo
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To: phenn
My email to Mr. Dykman....
Dear Mr. Dyckman,
I am writing to you because I am completely stunned at your response to Cheryl Ford. She and I do not personally know each other, however many of us have developed bonds during our fight to save Terri's life. She is good person, and a total professional.
Sir, imagine a time where your boys are grown men. Unfortunately one is injured in an accident. No life support, save a feeding tube, is needed. However he has a wife looking at a huge insurance policy, should her husband, your child, dies. You know that your son can be rehabilitated. He won't be the same, but he'll be there, and he knows who you are. All of a sudden, the wife decides that you can't see your son anymore, and tries to remove his feeding tube. Terri Schiavo lasted 6 days of starvation, before Governor Bush intervened and her feeding was resumed. As a parent, could you last through 12 years of this nightmare?
We don't know what really happened to Terri on that
day, Michael Schiavo wants to make sure no one knows. I do know that when you are faced with evil and you turn away, you share some guilt because you didn't do anything. A lot of Germans have that problem about concentration camps such as Auschwitz. We've always castigated civilian Germans for not stepping forward earlier. Is Terri any different from your distant kin? It starts with her, and God knows who it ends up with.
Please sleep on this, and do the right thing.
Sincerely,
TheSpottedOwl
21
posted on
05/07/2004 7:08:32 PM PDT
by
TheSpottedOwl
(Torrance Ca....land of the flying monkeys)
To: phenn
I have an archive of about 80 letters submitted that do meet their guidelines. Not a one has been published. Don't take my word for it. Please - search the Times' archives. www.sptimes.com/schiavo
By pointing me to this archive, you have proven my point. There are plenty of letters to the editor there that take the side of Terri's parents and Governor Bush. Maybe there are 80 letters that take the other side that were submitted but not published as well. The bottom line is that in the space where the newspaper invites readers to give their opinions, the opinion you take is represented, contrary to your assertion.
22
posted on
05/07/2004 7:09:27 PM PDT
by
drjimmy
To: phenn
Nothing about that paper surprises me.
23
posted on
05/07/2004 9:15:54 PM PDT
by
windchime
(Podesta about Bush: "He's got four years to try to undo all the stuff we've done." (TIME-1/22/01))
To: phenn
This poor excuse for a "news" paper has been a leading voice in the mad effort to starve and dehydrate an innocent woman to death. From Mary Jo Melone on down, the St. Petersburg Times is an absolute disgrace.
They should change their name to the "Euthanasia Enquirer".
24
posted on
05/07/2004 11:07:28 PM PDT
by
Deo volente
(God willing, Terri Schindler will live.)
To: richb12
She has been since October 2003 when her feeding tubes were removed. There were a lot of people on the street in front of that Hospice then. No one is around now, so I don't understand why Hospice continues to use its donation funds to pay for this. If you figure only $20 an hour, there's well over 100k they've spent. I don't think their benefactors would be too amused.
25
posted on
05/08/2004 2:12:20 AM PDT
by
phenn
(http://www.terrisfight.org)
To: phenn
This is Terri's 40th day of forced isolation from her parents, siblings,
priest, those who love her and her 1489th day confined to just a single
small room by Hospice of the Florida Suncoast (give or take a few days
of having to be in the hospital from neglect and almost being
dehydrated/starved to death).
Just when you thought the bottom of the barrel was being reached. now there
is a fax from Michael Schiavo's attorney Deborah Bushnell that the
Schindlers could be permitted to visit their daughter if they pay for an off
duty police officer to accompany them (arranged by Deborah Bushnell & Co. of
course):
Deborah A. Bushnell
Attorney
204 Scotland Street
Dunedin, FL 34698
Phone: (727)733-9064
By Facsimile: (727) 898-4903
May 06, 2004
Patricia Fields Anderson, Esq.
447 Third Avenue N., Suite 405
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Re: Schiavo, Theresa - #1834 -Guardianship
Dear Pat:
I received your fax dated May 4, 2004.
We inquired of Hospice as to whether they would allow their
security officers to be in the room during Robert and Mary
Schindlers' visitation. To date, we have not received their
consent to this arrangement, and it does not seem likely that
such an arrangement can be made with them in the near future.
In the interim, the Schindlers may visit Terri in the presence
of a security officer. However, we would have to make private
security options. If your clients are agreeable to paying the
cost of such supervision, please let us know, and we will
follow up to make arrangements for the visitation and let you
know the cost.
Sincerely,
<signed>
Deborah A. Bushnell
cc Michael Schiavo
George J. Felos, Esq.
Scott P. Swope, Esq.
Terri is denied any extensive/comprehensive range of motion therapy or any
kind of therapies that could make her better. Terri is not terminal yet
Michael Schiavo is trying hard to make it so. AHCA's April 1st investigation
didn't see anything wrong with Terri's teeth yet shortly after their
investigation 5 teeth were completely removed from her mouth, with no
restorative work considered. How could the AHCA not have noticed anything
wrong? The surveyors notes of this investigation are a must read. They show
to what lengths Hospice of Florida Suncoast, Michael Schiavo, etc. are going
to deceive investigators to cover up the fraud and criminal neglect they are
committing upon Terri, the people of Florida, United States and the world.
The AHCA appears to be complicit in aiding and abetting these crimes. These
Chapter 119 documents are available upon request.
There is a big question: WHAT ARE YOU AND YOUR FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS DOING ABOUT BRINGING THE PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE? Contact the
senators for your district and ask them what can be done, there are any
number of actions that can be taken. Be creative, do take action.
"Petition for State protective custody for Terri" (please get the petition
information out to as many peoples as possible)
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/chisana7/
"Saving Terri Schiavo"
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/19461949/
Laws being broken:
http://zimp.org/
Petition for Governor Bush to put Terri in protective custody:
http://www.petitiononline.com/chisana7/petition.html
Connect the Dots ... for Terri
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1130771/posts?page=11#11
http://www.terrisfight.org
26
posted on
05/08/2004 10:04:05 AM PDT
by
pc93
To: phenn
, it should come as NO surprise. For nearly a year, the St. Petersburg Times has advocated Terri's death and REFUSED to report on the violations of the guardianship codes and the ongoing neglect Terri is made to endure.... I'm not surprised at all; it's been obvious all along their bias. It sickens me.
27
posted on
05/08/2004 3:40:54 PM PDT
by
nicmarlo
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