We all saw the television coverage of health care town hall meetings. Foes of reform did a great job of getting their voices (or their shouts) heard by the media. But does loud and visible mean they are a majority? Were those TV pictures the whole picture? Not by a long shot.

Washington Post columnist E. J. Dionne Jr. writes that there is a strong case the media went "out of their way" to cover the "exciting" parts of the town halls -- the more extreme, noisy and angry the attendee, the more newsworthy the encounter. So the majority of town hall attendees, those expressing concern, doubt, curiosity, or even support for reform, tend to be overlooked or discounted. Admittedly, someone screaming about Nazis or wielding a gun might be more exciting to look at on TV than someone who is rationally asking a question or making a lower-decibel critique. But that doesn't mean their opinion is more important or more valid.

A TV stringer at Rep. David Price's (D-NC) town hall meeting expressly told the Congressmen: if the meeting doesn't blow up, it doesn't get covered. The Durham, North Carolina crowd was generally receptive to reform. The meeting didn't make the news.

So pay attention. Across the nation, demonstrators in favor of health reform are gathering to get their message out. Attendees at a series of pro-reform, "We Can't Afford To Wait" rallies this week voiced the urgent need to help those who are being hurt by our current health care system, reported the Post. "These vigils are to remind decision makers that the debate around health-care is not about politics but about people who are being crushed under the current health-care system," Nita Chaudhary, the national campaigns and organizing director of MoveOn.org told the Post.

Democrats hope that grassroots efforts across the nation will help Americans connect to the health care issue on a personal level. Mitch Stewart, the executive director of Organizing for America told The New York Times, "We feel the most important thing we can do is have these one-on-one conversations...That is, person-to-person, neighbor-to-neighbor, friend-to-friend conversation."

As Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH) told the Post, at her town halls, "I got serious questions, I got hostile questions, I got questions about how this would work, I got questions about how much it will cost. I also got a lot of comments from people who said it's important for their families and businesses to get health-care reform."

Support for reform remains pretty solid across the nation, even if some people are confused (or even afraid of) about what is or is not in the actual bills Congress is working on. Americans want health reform, but they have legitimate concerns about what it will look like, and what it will mean for them. They deserve to have their voices heard, and their questions answered -- not drowned out by hysteria and panic based on false claims, just because it makes for more provocative news.