The moment that I heard Britney Spears had shaved off her hair I knew she had a mental illness of some sort. My guess was bipolar disorder, but that's only because I suffer from it and am most familiar with the ravages of its symptoms.

Reporter Asra Q. Nomani wrote a special article to the Los Angeles Times on February 12 that recently ran in our local paper, The Boulder Daily Camera.  http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-nomani12feb12,0,1987129.story  

Asra's piece should be a call to arms for all who suffer from mental illness and those who advocate for us. We have an opportunity to let Time Warner and News Corp. and each of their media subsidiaries know how we feel about their coverage of one of our fellow sufferers. Asra mentions that "Responsible journalists long ago came to the ethical determination not to publish the names of rape victims or to air the most gruesome of terrorist videos. We can do the same here."

If you are interested in making a statement, please send your polite letters (these are very conservative organizations) to the address(es) below. Don't feel that you have to send a letter or note to everyone. Even one note to one person will make a difference.

1) Mr. Richard D. Parsons

Chairman of the Board

c/o Office of the Corporate Secretary

Time Warner Inc.

1 Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019

Phone 212.484.8000

copy to: Editor@people.com 

copy to any or all:

CNN 

P.O. Box 105366
One CNN Center
Atlanta, Georgia 30348
e-mail: feedback@cnn.com; cnn.onair@cnn.com;
crossfire@cnn.com
Web site: http://cnn.com/

Washington bureau:
820 First Street NE, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20002

1 Time Warner Center
New York, NY 10019
(212) 275-7800

and/or

2) K. Rupert Murdoch
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
News Corporation

1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

Phone: (212) 852-7017
Fax: (212) 852-7145.

Fox News / Fox News Channel 

1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036
e-mail: comments@foxnews.com
Web site: http://www.foxnews.com/

Washington bureau:
400 North Capitol St. NW, Suite 550
Washington, D.C. 20001

Most senior executives do not accept emails or faxes. A hand-written or typed (computer-generated) note has the most effect. On the envelope, write Personal and Confidential. Sometimes this helps get the envelope past the mail room!

Some suggested topics to write about include: treating all illnesses equally, including the human beings who have those illnesses; learning about bio-neurological diseases and recognizing the effects of media coverage on individuals with these diseases; adding a Board member with mental health expertise or creating a special department of ethics to monitor their companies' effectiveness in these areas, etc.

It can't hurt to try. We deserve to be treated well.

Cindy