Right, unless the producers fed people the questions, I would not call that fake.
I used to organize Town Hall like sessions at the organization I worked for with visiting big whigs (one was with a pre-politicized Dr. Ben Carson). Originally we just put up two Mic stands and had people queue up to ask their questions. You only have to do this a few times to realize that inevitably you get three or four questions on the same topic (people actually say things like “I know this question was already asked, but I wanted to ask it again with just a very small modification”). Also, there will always be people who are too nervous or quiet or impossible to understand, and also some who over embrace the performative opportunity, and take 3 Minutes (a long time in the circumstance) to make a mini-speech before asking their question. We found it much better, and easier, to ask people to submit questions in writing and then select a good variety that could be asked from the podium quickly. The moderator had the authority to ask follow up questions as appropriate. On Fri, 21 May 2021 at 12:40 PM Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote: > Fake might be too strong a word. I’d go with pre-screened. Expecting > genuinely random questions from a handful of audience members to be a fair > representation of the populace at large is… well… look at TV ratings, > determined by a few thousand people. So they pre-screen to ensure a diverse > and useful set of questions, and to ensure the people asking questions can > comport themselves at the microphone. Otherwise, you get conspiracy > theorists and “babba booey!” > > On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 11:28 AM Doug Eastick <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Thanks Melissa. I kind of always assumed they are highly staged. And >> I guess that's why I don't watch them much. >> >> But I did happen to catch the last 25 mins of Lawrence last night, where >> he followed up on a vax-hesitant guy -- and they got jabbed live on MSNBC >> at Walmart last night. So that was staged too. I do, however, believe >> that he *was* hesitant, and the bigger story is how he changed his mind. >> Kudos to his mom for joining in and getting jabbed too. >> >> >> >> On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 1:48 PM Melissa P <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> I was able to attend the MSNBC town hall last week, held at Northern >>> Virginia Community College, Alexandria (where Dr. Jill Biden has taught for >>> several years). >>> >>> Televised town halls are completely staged. It makes perfect sense, of >>> course, when every minute of an hour of TV must be planned in advance. I'm >>> sure everyone here already knew it, but I can at least provide first-hand >>> confirmation. >>> >>> For example, I was not given an opportunity to ask a question. As we >>> were being signed in, those given blue wrist bands had been pre-selected to >>> ask a question, I later discovered. I was given a red wristband. >>> >>> None of us knew what the blue bands meant until the show started. In >>> fact, a non-picked person was on his way to the mic when he was shooed back >>> to his seat! >>> >>> I did get to say something to Lawrence O'Donnell afterward. When I told >>> him that I loved *Mr. Sterling* and mentioned the similarity between >>> Senator Sterling and Senator Manchin, he said: "I love hearing that!" >>> >>> It was also cool to hear President Biden, in the pre-taped interview >>> that was shown before the town hall, talk about the data I used to help >>> produce. >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CA%2B_fQPz3PeTZNa80VevaG27ayHcFDypAJNsNP60NqvbBrakknw%40mail.gmail.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CA%2B_fQPz3PeTZNa80VevaG27ayHcFDypAJNsNP60NqvbBrakknw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> >> >> -- >> Doug Eastick <[email protected]> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BoG-nvre0WxG4HoQvLPJdQJjVO0vMnWFgd%2BA0VGMLZ4HA%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAK5Q1BoG-nvre0WxG4HoQvLPJdQJjVO0vMnWFgd%2BA0VGMLZ4HA%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Kevin M. (RPCV) > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4ArVArzpTgsh7tqCrdWg1xE5EhaWvvy9pGk1q4tYOV3ZQ%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4ArVArzpTgsh7tqCrdWg1xE5EhaWvvy9pGk1q4tYOV3ZQ%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Sent from Gmail Mobile -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkYK_VA8xpPdURMwSfWnr_bfAj16Vd_BqSCFDK-ohOxq2Ag%40mail.gmail.com.
