‘Paying their way’ into the political process matters most to Florida press
On the afternoon of Saturday, July 5, two of Florida’s biggest mainstream media organizations, the Florida Press Association (FPA) and the Florida Society of News Editors (FSNE) finally admitted, albeit inadvertently, the real reasons why they chose not to invite Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Adrian Wyllie to actively participate in the FPA and FSNE Gubernatorial Forum, held this coming Thursday evening, July 10, at the Biltmore in Coral Gables, Fla.
Even though the Adrian Wyllie for Governor Campaign is drawing 15 percent or more of the support in recent political polling across the state of Florida (see this link), the FPA and FSNE denied his active inclusion in the forum for failing to meet either one of the requirements in Provision D necessary for active participation in the forum. Provision D requires his political party, the Libertarian Party of Florida(LPF) to represent five percent of the electorate in Florida, or to raise $250,000 in campaign contributions. While Wyllie easily met Provisions A, B, C, E, and F, he and his campaign fell short on Provision D.
Through these actions, the FPA’s and FSNE’s have revealed their two main objectives in Florida’s political system: Prolonging and protecting the political status quo that so many Floridians and Americans are striving to change; and ensuring that only candidates buying airtime or advertising through traditional mainstream media sources, or “paying their way” into the political process, are allowed anything more than minimal exposure during election cycles. Please click here to see a list of the six provisions set for this Thursday’s FPA/FSNE Gubernatorial Forum.
Wyllie and campaign volunteers respond to his exclusion from the debate
After receiving notice of his exclusion from active participation in next Thursday’s gubernatorial forum, Wyllie issued his statement to the FPA/FSNE regarding his disgust with the dishonesty, corruption, and unethical behavior leading to his exclusion from the debate. Please click on this link to read Wyllie’s release to the FPA and FSNE.
In addition to Wyllie’s statement, the Libertarian Chicks issued their own biting tongue-in-cheek criticism of the news organization’s decision to deny Wyllie a chance to speak to the attendees at the forum. The group compared the actions of the FPA and FSNE to the treatment Libertarian Senate Candidate Robert Sarvis has received from the mainstream media this election cycle in Virginia (which differs little from Sarvis’ run for governor last fall). Please click on this link to read the Libertarian Chicks letter to the FPA and FSNE.
Check out the full story on Examiner HERE
Adrian Wyllie all the way!