Corporate Ownership of 1st Amendment Rights

Re “Rep. Waxman Knows Better,” editorial, Aug. 9: So, the members of the media are worried about their 1st Amendment rights because Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) is trying to get to the bottom of General Electric Chairman Jack Welch’s [rumored] attempt to have his network, NBC, give the illusion that George W. Bush had won the election last November.

As far as I’m concerned, the media lost their “rights” when they worked in collusion with the Republicans in Congress over the last eight years to do whatever they could to get Bill Clinton impeached. In effect, a message was sent to Democrats in this country, both by the media and Republicans, that our right to vote our candidate into the office of president of the United States did not matter in the last three elections.

Pamela Phillips

Norwalk

I have never been so angry with a Times editorial than I was after reading the attack on Waxman (whom I do not know) simply because he is now asking that NBC President Andrew Lack provide the internal videotapes that he promised to Congress.

The Times argues that the organization is protected by the 1st Amendment. Since when are the publicly owned airways allowed to influence a presidential election--which rumors say that Welch, chairman of General Electric, owner of NBC, did?

Since I generally agree with The Times’ editorials, I can only assume that this was an aberration, because no reasonable analysis would ever contend that the government’s property (i.e., the people’s airways) can be utilized for partisan political purposes.

It may be that Waxman’s wanting to know the truth proves that Welch was innocent, but he should not be condemned for simply wanting to look at the evidence. He is not accusing. He is only asking.

John Paul Clay

Altadena