On Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 7:41 PM, David Lynch <[email protected]> wrote:
> The impression I'm getting from news media folks on social networking > (a small handful of whom would recognize me if I walked up to them, > but many who wouldn't) is that we're so far down that admitting that > an interview was granted only on certain conditions is a step up. > Rumor has been that he has been making it a condition of most of his > interviews that he not be asked about the Democratic attack line of > the day, and some stations have been giving in because their > executives see it as a potential ratings bonanza. (And we don't hear > about the stations that say no.) > > Romney's people seem to be terrified of any arm of the news media that > they know won't be throwing softballs. Apparently, he was instructed > only to call on foreign reporters when he did his tour of Europe with > its multiple press conferences, and there were a instances in the > primaries of Romney and at least some of the other candidates kicking > reporters out of events after they had done stories that the campaign > didn't like. I don't know if it's still true, but I remember hearing a > claim a few weeks back that he had more appearances on Fox News than > he had on all of the other national news outlets combined. > This is very interesting David, thanks. When you say they are so far down that admitting the conditions would still be a step up, do you mean the CBS affiliate in particular is in last place in the local news ratings, or that local news in general is so far down? If I were the News Director at the NBC or ABC outlets in Denver, I would be tempted to start running commercials that say something like "when you actually want to watch news, watch us - we don't agree to conditions" (I would also hire someone smart enough to come up with a clever line there). I can see how these local news interviews are ratings bonanza's for local stations, but they are also a main source of free media for the candidates. Colorado is a swing state, and I have to believe that if all the stations had hung rough, eventually he would have to agree to a real interview. I believe that the memorable exchange in the Holy site in Poland when Romney's press spokesman told reporters to kiss his ass was motivated by Romney having frozen out the US Press the day before, taking only questions from the international press, leading the US press the next day to aggressively yell out questions at the candidate, including something like: "What about the gaffes?" -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
