Each time Bradley Manning goes to Ft. Meade for a pre-trial hearing, I flip through all of my local news channels to see if maybe someone mentions it – but I have not seen so much as a 5 second nod by a single anchor towards perhaps one of the most important whistleblower cases in US history.

In some ways it’s surprising, and in some ways it’s not.

Bradley was tortured for over 9 months in solitary confinement at Quantico Marine Brig until the public caught on to what was happening and it became impossible to keep him there. Today, Bradley remains in pre-trial confinement at Ft. Leavenworth until his court martial, but we hear from his attorney that his living conditions have drastically improved thanks to the outpouring of concern from activists and supporters.

Even so, the government’s campaign of misinformation and secrecy has allowed them to maintain the outrageous charge that he ‘aided the enemy,’ while keeping Manning and any evidence or witness testimony relevant to his defense behind lock and key, almost completely unchallenged.

The point here is that the media’s general carelessness and lack of interest in this case is what has allowed these government charades to continue unabated, spreading damaging misinformation, allowing for his mistreatment, and pushing his case towards unjust conviction behind closed doors. When the public is privy to details about Manning’s treatment, the uproar makes it difficult for these abuses to continue, and the same should be true with regards to the details emerging from the courtroom.

I think there’s a good chance that with enough support we could get some local media to start picking up this story. It would be enough to get some people talking about this case again, and as we near September’s court-martial, that’s exactly what we all need to be doing because the only thing that will complicate the governments plans is intense public scrutiny.

So we’re running targeted Facebook ads urging Bradley Manning supporters everywhere to contact their local news outlets and request coverage of Bradley Manning’s pre-trial hearings and eventual court-martial. We even put together an easy-to-use tool that allows supporters to contact all their local outlets at the click of a mouse.

We need your help getting this campaign off the ground, activating as many Bradley Manning supporters as possible to call on their local media outlets for coverage of this important case.

If you can help out, click here to chip in $5 or more to help us run these ads: https://secure.firedoglake.com/page/contribute/manning_ads