The Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) has issued a media alert calling on WXMI Fox 17 to investigate claims made by politicians in the future in light of their coverage of the Ehlers town hall meeting:

On Saturday, May 5, WXMI ran a story on a “town hall meeting” hosted by US Representative Vern Ehlers. The story simply repeated one of Ehlers’ statements without bothering to verify its accuracy. The statement, that more people died in Iraq under Saddam Hussein than in the ongoing war and occupation, was questionable at best and should have been examined.

Please send WXMI an email using the pre-written letter below demanding that in the future they hold politicians accountable for their statements by examining their accuracy:

Send a Pre-Written Email

At Representative Vern Ehlers’ town hall meeting yesterday, Ehlers asserted that the war is a major priority for Congress and explained that it is “not going well.” Ehlers said that the war needs to be “resolved” and rejected an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, stating that if the United States chooses to “pack up our goods and walk out the door it’s admitting defeat.” However, Ehlers offered no alternative proposals for addressing the war and dodged a question asking him about his complicity in war crimes.

More:

05/05/07 – Rep. Vern Ehlers Refuses to do anything to End the Iraq War at Town Hall Meeting
05/05/07 – Audio from Town Hall Meeting