After that horrific interview with Joe Biden, I, like so many others here, sent an email to the anchorwoman basically telling her that she was a nutjob, that americans have more important questions that they want answered than the drivel she was asking, etc... I told her to resign or grow up.
I didn't expect a response.
Of course, the response didn't come from her directly. It came from the TV Station itself (Eyewitness News (CTV-Orlando)). Quoted in full below:
Dear Viewer:
Thank you for taking time to contact us regarding Barbara West's recent interview with Senator Joe Biden, the Democratic Vice Presidential candidate. Thousands of viewers have contacted us. We have personally read hundred of emails and listened to callers expressing their opinions on this interview, both critical, and supportive. Your comments are important to us. This interview is part of a much larger body of work that has covered both campaigns for months. In addition, WFTV has interviewed numerous other candidates from both parties throughout this election process, and we pride ourselves in offering many diverse on air and online opportunities for candidates to explain and communicate their views.
We will continue to offer a broad range of coverage of Vote 2008, through election night. This will include live coverage of the Obama/Clinton rally in Kissimmee on TV27 on October 29, and live coverage of any McCain stop in Central Florida before the election. You can see all of our interviews with political candidates at WFTV.com. Based on your passion during this election process, we know we will see you at the polls on November 4th. Thank you for sharing your comments with us.
Trying to justify the interview as "part of a much larger body of work" is just plain silly. It doesn't matter how many hours of campaign coverage they've logged. It doesn't make this one 15-minute interview any less offensive. I'll probably write back and tell them this, but I thought I'd share their response with anyone who cared.