[BC] equal time controversy

[Donna Halper]

On 6/5/2012 12:07 AM, donroden at hiwaay.net wrote:
>
> Absolutely................... but year after year, the media seems to
> try to control the outcomes of elections to a greater percent for the
> Democrats than
> Republicans.
>    

I don't wanna get into a political debate, but I hear this talking point 
a lot from my conservative friends.  The facts don't bear it out, 
however.  The media love whoever seems the most interesting, and  they 
love winners (or people who seem to be winning).  And studies from 
non-partisan organizations have shown it's actually pretty equal.  A 
couple of recent examples:  the majority of the media were hugely 
pro-Ronald Reagan for quite a while and Bush's policies only got 
subjected to scrutiny in his second term.  As for Obama-- I've seen lots 
of studies that show his early coverage in the press was quite 
negative.  Later in 2008, when he seemed to be capturing the public 
imagination, the media tagged along.

But my question was:  should political talk shows try to let both sides 
be heard, or should they only cover the side they happen to support 
personally?  As a former consultant (28 years, for those who don't know 
me), I always encouraged talk show hosts to interview all the major 
candidates -- a good interviewer should be able to elicit interesting 
information, whether it's a candidate they support or a candidate they 
oppose.