You gotta be kidding me...

http://tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=11708

Okay, so really it doesn't matter which side of the aisle you are on (even if it's the middle of the aisle). I think the discussion on where the various media outlets fall on their coverage of news and events has become clear. For the most part, it's left-leaning. Then there's Fox News (which is on cable of course, not broadcast) and not really a lot else. I don't know whether Fox News is really "fair and balanced" or not because I don't get the channel, but let's just say for the sake of argument that they are right-leaning.

So a half-dozen or so national broadcasters and hundreds of affiliates on one side, 1 cable channel on the other side (or is there another channel besides Fox News that I haven't heard of yet?). Not exactly balanced, but who says you must have balance? It's supposed to be a free market of ideas, and political speech should be especially protected from scrutiny.

And now we have a handful of Democrats fronting an effort against the vast right wing conspiracy in effect every week on Sunday. If you clicked on that link at the first part of this post, you'll see what has me laughing right now. If you didn't read it yet, go ahead and read it real quick...I'll wait...........

Okay, so these Democrats are concerned about the lack of balance by news shows on Sunday? I suppose they must be satisfied with the balance during the remainder of the week....but 6 out of 7 days is apparently not enough. There are some other quotable quotes in that article, I'll leave it to you to find the most fun ones for yourself.

The real issues is that a lot of the news on Monday is determined by weekend news and event coverage and commentary. The argument is therefore made that if Sunday is dominated by conservatives then Monday will soon be their domain as well. Tuesday should be shaking in it's boots right now - it's next!

Seriously, don't these elected officials have something better to do than make news about making the news? Let the news channels choose who they want to have on their show. If they want Al Gore talking about global warming and Hillary Clinton talking about universal healthcare, let them do it. If people want to watch, then they will watch. If not, then the networks may change their content. They have already decided that their Sunday audience will watch more conservative material than liberal, so let them do it. Forcing networks to change their coverage against their viewership is bound to send the advertisers running for greener pastures and the producers polishing their resumes for the next job.

Really though...I doubt these Sunday shows are having such a drastic effect on the "national discourse" since the viewing audience already leans to the right on these particular shows. They are not strict news shows...these are opinion-heavy pieces and are not subject to the same guidelines to which pure journalism should adhere. Of course, I'd love to see what pure journalism looks like....if it ever existed.

Anyway, read the article on one of my industry e-mails and thought it was funny/interesting/annoying. Feel free to comment.