Today: Join the Gardener Protest of HGTV (The New York Times is Watching)

If you're like to see more gardening (the silent G) on HGTV, rush right over to Tina's protest website and start emailing the sponsors she's listed there.  This is a one-day campaign, so ACT NOW.

Now about coverage in the Times, here's what we know:  a Times reporter has interviewed Paul James about the campaign and visited Tina's protest website.  So let's help make it a story worth running, shall we?

Comments

[Amy Stewart]

I'm suggesting #gtv as a Twitter hashtag. If you don't Twitter, you can still follow the comments at search.twitter.com -- just enter #gtv.

[Old Kim]

Martha Stewart is more current than HGTV. Check out the current issue of Living, Color Your World. Best 5 dollars I spent in a while.

[Elizabeth Stump]

Here's a copy of the email I sent the executives on the list:

Dear Executives,

What's this I hear you cancelled Paul James' "Gardening by the Yard" show??? Now I will have NO reason to watch HGTV. And don't even try to tell me "Curb Appeal" is a gardening show. It is a show that shows people throwing ungodly sums of money at people to fix up their yards. There is no "gardening" involved. It's a show showing you how to throw your money at someone.

Gardener's Diary? Urgh - that is one of the worst gardening shows I've seen. If you think, as Ms. Esser says, you are keeping your "finger on the pulse of what our viewers are saying or wanting," your viewers must be dead or is in a magical minority of people who have not been affected by the downturn in this economy.

I'm watching the DIY network just to catch old episodes of "Fresh from the Garden" since I finally have the time to invest in a vegetable garden.

Considering I have been laid off since August and have been unable to secure new employment in this economy, I could be spending many hours watching your programming in the middle of the day, if your programming were even remotely in touch with reality. I do not have money to invest in a complete remodel of my house, as most of your programs are geared for. I am not selling my house in this horrible housing market as the rest of your programming is skewed.

At least the local PBS station is showing old reruns of Victory Garden, since that is more informative than anything you have, now that you've cancelled "Gardening by the Yard."

Regards...

[emily]

Wow. That was much better than what I wrote. But I did send an email to each of the 4 executives listed. I will be curious to hear if our effort had any significant impact....

[Kathy J, Washington Gardener]

Old Kim, you are so right on Martha -- she has been doing a fantastic job on her TV show recently on bringing in growers and plant experts like Tony Avent. Her garden segments are pretty spot-on.

[Michelle]

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I sent out several e-mails, and posted about the issue on my blog.

[Gerg]

Promblem with martha is having to watch her trundle around "Everday Estates" with her champion horses and green houses and otherwise jaw dropping stuff that I'll never even approach in my life time...

But the main point was:

How did the protest go? any word on how many emails were sent?