[BC] equal time controversy

[Craig Bowman]

Donna,

  Political talk shows such as Rush are built on opinion.  People tune 
in to hear what he thinks because, more often than not, he echo's their 
thoughts.  Shows such as "the five" on Fox and Bill Mahr on HBO present 
different viewpoints biased such as to entertain a target audience 
because the opposing viewpoint is always outnumbered.  This bias is what 
makes people tune in.  Without this bias you cannot tap in to the 
passion which causes people to seek out this type of entertainment. 
"Point - Counterpoint" was a feature on 60 Minutes, there is a reason 
why it was not an hour long show.  Few people would consider something 
with which they genuinely disagree as entertaining.  Even in 
professional wrestling it was clear who was good and who was evil.

To use the way-back machine for a little while... People do not listen 
to the radio, they use the radio.  They use it to know how to dress 
their kids for school, they use it to find out what's going on, they use 
it for entertainment, they use it for companionship.

A bigger question is can anyone realistically provide an unbiased forum 
in which both viewpoints can be effectively plead.  To quote Albert 
Einstein "Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions 
which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most 
people are even incapable of forming such opinions."  I believe this 
would apply to booking guests, who goes first, headroom (TV), etc. 
There are many nuances which go in to winning a debate and the facts are 
just one of them.

Taking up the public airwaves with programming nobody wants to listen to 
is hardly in the public interest.

Craig Bowman
Durand, MI
989-277-8835

On 6/5/2012 12:57 AM, Donna Halper wrote:
> On 6/5/2012 12:07 AM, donroden at hiwaay.net wrote:

> 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.
>