SUNDAY UPDATE: My highly placed source inside H&C tells me your Emails are making a difference! Keep speaking up! Your voice matters! If you Democrat/Liberal/Progressives think it makes sense to simply write Fox off entirely, please see this.
It was announced at the end of Friday’s Hannity & Colmes on Fox that their Monday (Election Eve) guests would be:
ON THE RIGHT: Karl Rove, Dick Morris, William Weld (UPDATE!) Jeb Bush just added!!!
ON THE LEFT: Bill Richardson
Obviously, this is anything but “Fair and Balanced” and on the eve of a national Election it’s simply outrageous!
I have a highly placed source inside the Hannity & Colmes show who I’ve sent Email to complain about this, and I received back a similar response to the ones I usually receive from them on the lack of balance on H&C. Namely; the Kerry campaign is simply not as willing to help them by supplying guests as the Bush campaign is. (I wonder why!)
I have tried to explain to my source that it’s Fox’s and H&C’s responsibility to ensure that their show is fair and balanced! Not the responsibility of the Kerry campaign or the DNC to ensure that!
No matter how much the Democrats wish (or do not wish) to supply top-level guests to H&C it is the responsibility of the news organization, and debate show — which claims to offer “Fair and Balanced” debate from both sides — to do everything they can to ensure that the American people whom they serve receive an equal representation from both sides!
Last week, for example, Hannity had half-hour one-on-one interviews first with George W. Bush and then again with Dick Cheney. After which, both Hannity and Colmes pointed out that they had invited Kerry and/or Edwards to enjoy the same, to which apparently they declined.
In lieu of Kerry or Edwards then, H&C should have given an equal amount of time to a Democratic representative — any Democratic representative, if necessary! — to do at least their best to try and offer balance, even if they were not able to get Kerry or Edwards themselves!
And now, on their Election Eve show, such sorry excuses are simply intolerable! Having three Republican guests — two of them, Rove and Morris, who will likely be offered segments where no balancing Democrat representative is there to supply balance — is beyond the pale on the final show before Americans go to the polls!
I’ve contacted MediaMatters.org about this issue in hopes that they can help make some noise about it. I hope you will do the same, as well as helping to spread this word, and contacting the people at Fox News and the Hannity & Colmes show with your opinions about this outrageous example of attempting to effect the Presidential Election on the nation’s most-watched channel for Election news coverage on the night before the Election!
CONTACT…
Sean Hannity: hannity@foxnews.com
Alan Colmes: colmes@foxnews.com
FOX News Channel FOX News Channel:
1-888-369-4762
Comments@foxnews.com
Media Matters:
www.MediaMatters.org
Email
Click here to Email all of the above at once!
UPDATE: If you have any question where Hannity & Colmes — the show that claims to offer “Fair and Balanced Debate” stands, see the front page of their website right now. Here’s a screenshot. Note all three featured stories offered to readers: Interviews with Peggy Noonan (Conservative, Ronald Reagan’s speech writer), George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
We’ve come to expect this from H&C by now, of course, but their Election Eve coverage is even more outrageous than on most days! And, certainly more important than just any old day of the week!
UPDATE 11/1/04: Hannity & Colmes now announcing that Jeb Bush is added to tonight’s show!!!
GOOD NEWS UPDATE 11/1/04: Just heard from my source: Terry McAullife now added to show for balance! Your letters are working! Keep it up! You are making a difference!!!
FINAL UPDATE: Victory (mostly)! Final lineup: 2 guests from the Right, 2 from the Left! But H&C managed, incredibly, to skew it to the Right anyway. Click here to read how.
Brad,
Tanks for the news! Just shot them an e-mail and told them I’d do the show for free. Do you want to bet if they will respond? 😛
If your watching Hannity and Colmes your voting for Bush.
Worry more about GOTV
Thanks Brad! I suggested Matthew Yglesias….
Stop your crying and go watch CNN. All media is biased. Get over it.
Brad
blow me
There are plenty of progressive political consultants and journalists they could have on to counter Rove and Kristol.
They just aren’t’ making the effort.
"Hannity & Colmes" is a commentary show. The whole POINT of the show is to express opinion. Don’t worry, Colmes will be there to religiously spout the Democratic party line.
After years and years of bias, from Larry King, Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews to Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw, I find your complaints about H&C hilarious. The show has Alan Colmes for God’s sake! Whining about the guests who show up is pathetic drivel.
You’re ballistic over a debate show? You think that wins a contest versus the right while it is (rightfully) pointing out blatant bias in places like CBS News, 60 Minutes and the NYT.?
I mean, really……..you’re bitching about bias at freaking Hannity and Colmes? What do you want, NPR on every station (and then bitch about any conservative guest who shows up?)
Steve – do you know they are not making an effort? I didn’t think so.
Ben & Tom –
Colmes = Zell Miller = Worst.Democrats.Ever.
Fox News is so up the neo-cons nazi ass it’s not even funny.
You are beating on a dead horse,Brad.
Hannity is sooo far-right he almost will fall off a clift.
His spin,lies, & propaganda is only accepted by the die-heart repuks that don’t have the intell to think for themselfs,let alone read or understand more than one paragraft at a time.
His fans only go out and repeat what he says in goosestep style.
The perception of "liberal media bias" is so ingrained in the otherwise simple rightwing mentation that one should never expect other than an attack when pointing out to the simple ones, that they have transgressed; and a nuclear response should one point out that they transgress consistently, persistently, and as a matter of policy.
my previous comment hasn’t made it yet, If it does, I made a mistake in thinking this was on election day. Still, the rest of my comment applies.
Colmes was on Air America with Al Franken a couple of weeks ago. Franken had said some unkind things about Colmes performance as a "liberal" on the show.
He, Franken, pointed out that while Colmes would occasionally point out Hannity’s errors and mischaracterizations, Hannity would be spouting them again the next day. Over and over.
My election predction – Hannity and Colmes will issue sexual harrassment suits against each other so their ratings will go up 30 perecnt like O Reilly’s (which is disgusting).
With so much going on, I can’t care aobut this. This wil be after people vote.
Bill Weld is a Republican, but he’s not too far right of center.
So instead of 3-1 it’s more like 2.5 – 1. Not that that helps much.
Sorry, but Fox News does not "serve" Americans, and neither does CNN or ABC or any other news outlet. They put on a product, like all news organizations, for their customers or viewers. Don’t like it? Don’t watch it. But it’s hardly the case that Fox News serves Americans. What a naive view of the world that is, guy.
Ricky – At least NPR will report on an issue that should matter to every American…Republicans trying to stop Americans from voting.
http://www.npr.org/templates/st...toryId=4133515
Why would I even bother to have that Republican trash on my television. This election year I have gotten my news from PBS and sources on the internet. When I don’t have some Republican shill or some advertiser (same difference in my book) shouting at me I find that my decision making process is a lot clearer. I think that if all voters had taken a similar route this year that Bush wouldn’t even be close in this race.
– "I find television educational, when someone turns on the TV, I go into the other room and read" Groucho Marx
Simply more outrageousness from the Fox News Channel; I’m trying to feign surprise.
In response to Phil’s posting: Yes, Weld is a moderate Republican. However, he is a Republican with an axe to grind. Don’t forget Kerry’s 1996 trouncing of Weld. Do you think the former Massachusetts Governor will have anything nice to say about the man who effectively ended his career in electoral politics? Me neither.
Mark-
You’re not suppose to drink the bong water. That’s not real clarity.
Hannity is a Rep. hack, and Colmes
is a Dem. one. That is fair and balanced.
BTW I’m a big Sean Hannity fan.
While flipping through channels the other evening, I saw Phil Donahue (sp?) on the H&C show. Phil gave Hannity a run for his money. Any chance they could replace Colmes with Donahue?
WRT Morris, he calls it exactly how he sees it, and I don’t see the point of ad homenim attacks on him as a "Republican." He’s the guy most responsible for Clinton getting re-elected, and if he thinks Kerry will win, he will say so. This is exactly why Clinton hired MOrris (as Morris has noted, he’s one of the only guys who would tell Clinton the truth, not what he wanted to hear).
Susan Estrich is the same, intellectually honest. We need more people like these two on the air (and less of the talkin points like Eleanor Clift).
Give me intellectual honesty, not an even number of GOPs and Dems. The latter is how CNN does it, and is that fair, with Bob Novak, the anti-war paleocon? Kate O’Beirne is the only pro-Iraq war on Capital Gang!
WRT Morris, he calls it exactly how he sees it, and I don’t see the point of ad homenim attacks on him as a "Republican." He’s the guy most responsible for Clinton getting re-elected, and if he thinks Kerry will win, he will say so. This is exactly why Clinton hired MOrris (as Morris has noted, he’s one of the only guys who would tell Clinton the truth, not what he wanted to hear).
Susan Estrich is the same, intellectually honest. We need more people like these two on the air (and less of the talkin points like Eleanor Clift).
Give me intellectual honesty, not an even number of GOPs and Dems. The latter is how CNN does it, and is that fair, with Bob Novak, the anti-war paleocon? Kate O’Beirne is the only pro-Iraq war on Capital Gang!
Dick Morris is responsible for one of themost racist campaigns in America’s history. He ran one of Jesse Helm’s re-election efforts in whuch white hands appeared crumpling up a rejection notice form a job. The ad then complained about affirmative action. It is often referred to as the whote hands ad and was hugely effective in North Carolina. Dick Norri int truth teller he’ vulgr little man. As for Ms. Estrich, perhaps you are unaware but the last politician she worked for was a republican polician.
I’m gagging over someone actually believing that Dick Morris is anything but some scum that crawled out from under a rock! This same man who recently said that the "silence" from OBL was promoting Kerry…turned right around and pronounced the latest video as "evidence" that OBL WANTS Kerry…which is it Dick? And why do all these idiots have the name DICK? Nixon, Cheney, Morris…should I go on…?
Brad,
Proof that Our Goverment knew of Al QaQaa since mid-97. I made a blog on http://www.livelogcity.com/users/henryschlatman/ You can even see a map of all the ammo sites in Iraq if you want to check it out.
From the Butler Report to Congressional hearings this web site shows the truth. Enjoy reading 🙂
Halliburton!…No Blood for Oil….Bush Lied, People Died….Save the Camels….No Pipelines in Afghanistan ….Peace Out…..No Nukes(especially ‘bunker busters’)….Yankees go Home!!
I sent an email but just to insult the lame-brains. Who would watch Fox to look for honest debate anyway?
You have to change your attitude about Fox News Channel. Stop thinking of it as news. It’s not. It’s talk shows with news interspersed. Why else would they have news cut-ins during shows? They are viewed by about 1% of the American public (as is CNN). If you start thinking of them as a channel aimed at a particular audience and not one for which statements other than those in news cut-ins could be considered fact, the media will stop writing about them and they will be relegated where they belong: considered as talk radio with pictures.
They missed Ann"thrax" Coulter.
If it wasn’t for Fox none of these talking heads could sell their "pulp fiction"
So your saying its fine for CBS, ABC, & The New York Times to lean on and support the liberal vote, but it is wrong for Fox to go RIGHT? Hmm….makes perfect sense coming from a liberal.
BUSH 2004!!
To Bush 2004
Go back to sleep, sheep. :plain
No, I don’t think that any media should be biased, and if we see it (as obviously you have "but it is wrong for Fox to go right?) we should attempt to stamp it out. Just because they do it is never a good arguement.
Mr. Colmes,
To ask a guest to come onto your show and then interrupt him throughout the debate is not the way to "win" him over to your philosophy. Extremely rude would be a better description. He who interrupts most, wins? (Christmas in schools)