Today on NBC's Meet The Press Tim Russert interviewed three Republicans in a row with no Democrat present. On port security the guests were Rep. Peter King and Virginia Senator John Warner. They were followed by a one-on-one with CA. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The DNC leadership team MUST call a meeting with network news heads ASAP. This can be fixed by friendly pressure if the past is any judge. Let me explain on the flip...
I used to work in network news. First at ABC and then at CBS News. The key people to put pressure on to maintain balance and fairness in these shows are the Washington bureau chiefs and executive producers of each of the Sunday morning shows. When I was at the networks as a junior producer I used to often see our executive producer take phone calls from our bureau chief in DC on any number of issues for which they got pushback from the heads of the two major political parties. Often there would be complaints and pressure to frame an issue, or provide balance via guests or information. This was so routine that there was a courteous and practical working relationship between the heads of the parties and the news executives. They relied on each other to understand where the flashpoints were and where the issues were headed so that coverage could be planned.
I have no inside knowledge anymore because I'm out of that business today, but there is no reason why Howard Dean or his top key people couldn't get the producers of Meet The Press on the phone and easily have a Democrat added to that panel this morning. It is simply routine business in Washington.
I may be wrong, and I welcome any representative of the DNC to come to this forum and reply with information to counter my suspicion. Perhaps they are applying this pressure to no avail. But we need to know why this is continuing to happen. I'm not blaming Dean and his people for the actions of Meet The Press producers. What I am saying, from personal experience, is that this situation can be rectified by the right kind of communication between the party leadership and NBC News executives. It has been done in the past. It needs to be done now.