Vote With America's Last News Council!

[John Hamer]

Dear JTM friends and colleagues --

The Washington News Council, which is the last remaining news council in the U.S., is trying an unprecedented experiment this coming Saturday, June 1.

We will hold an open public hearing on a serious complaint against The Seattle Times, which will be webcast by TVW (our state's version of C-SPAN) starting at 9 a.m. PDT. 

We are inviting interested people worldwide -- including journalists -- to watch it and vote on on the merits of the complaint along with our WNC Hearings Board panel and the live audience. 

The Votable Questions ballot and full Details on the complaint are now on our website. It is a complicated case, but we hope many of you will read about it and vote.

At the end of the hearing, we will announce the votes of our Hearings Board, the live audience, and the online ballots. 

NOTE: We will also post a videotape of the hearing on our website so people can watch it later and vote anytime until June 15. 

We'd love to have your participation in this innovative effort to expand the concept of media-ethics oversight to the broader public, especially concerned journalists.

Please let me know if you have comments or suggestions. Your feedback is welcome!

John Hamer (206.262.9793)

President and Executive Director

Washington News Council, Seattle

http://wanewscouncil.org

http://taoofjournalism.org