A consortium of news organizations has decided, in the wake of terrorist attacks on America, not to publish the results of an analysis of the November, 2000 Presidential Election voting in Florida.
To the Editors of The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, CNN, The New York Times, The Tribune Company, The St. Petersburg Times, and The Palm Beach Post:
I write to express my disappointment that your editors have decided not to release the recently-completed results of your analysis of 180,000 Florida votes during last November's presidential election.
By any definition, that analysis is news. By refusing to publish it, you infantilize your audience - holding back information that would allow us to come to our own conclusions about the state of American democracy.
War is no reason to stop the vigorous promotion of democracy. Americans, asked to sacrifice liberties, and in the case of our armed forces, their lives in the interest of preserving our country against foreign attack, deserve to know the complete truth about the state of the nation which they are asked to defend. I prompt you to publish the results of your findings with no delay, and to trust your readers to judge the truth for themselves.
Sincerely,
Paul Ford