The Party <i> Isn’t</i> Over

We were real upset when we were only able to see ABC’s “coverage” of the Democratic convention while on vacation.

The arrogant executives decided we should listen to their pundits instead of Mario Cuomo, Jesse Jackson and Tom Harkin, not to mention up-and-coming party leaders. Is it too much to ask that the networks, which make a profit from public airwaves, devote a relatively tiny amount of money and time every four years to letting the parties governing the country talk to us directly? Apparently they think that broadcasting the baseball All-Star Game and sitcoms is fulfillment of their corporate citizenship.

Everette Dennis (“Freedom Forum,” indeed) would deny us this one opportunity we have to hear a wide variety of leaders speak because he tells us (as fact, not opinion) that only Cuomo measured up oratorically.

We need more coverage and more people tuning in, and Dennis’ fashionable cynicism about the convention (which he calls “slightly more important” than the Rose Parade) represents the further deterioration of our democracy. Yes, the conventions are “political advertising”: We ought to follow other countries and require free air time.

VICKI and SCOTT SMITH

Thousand Oaks