How To Be Fair

"My husband and I will not be watching channel 3 anymore. We are sick of your channel . . . Your smug "pro Republican" channel is not what my husband and I call unbiased, and it definitely shows in your programming."

That blasted into my e-mail Inbox from a viewer last night after I completed my story on Senator Bill Frist's visit to Springfield for Senator Jim Talent's re-election.

The angst among Dems continues today. Some are in a furor with KY3 for our coverage of Sen. Frist's visit and the pending Presidential campaign stop. Calls and e-mails are coming in questioning why we are giving Republicans "free air time."

It sounds a lot like the anger among some Republicans this past Labor Day, after we featured stories on Sen. John Edwards and his campaign stop for Claire McCaskill. At that time, one caller lambasted our coverage as "a free service to the Democratic party, part of the liberal media."

So goes the politics of political journalism. Blame the media.

At KY3 News, our management and news team is dedicated to covering the big events, and that means "big Democrats and Republicans" alike. No matter their party, if they are a big name, we make every attempt to cover them.

In an ideal world, Talent and McCaskill would both hold opposing rallies in Springfield the same day - so we could provide equal coverage of both . . . or Bill Clinton would counter President Bush with a visit, so we could provide equal time. These situations would make better stories.

"If Bill Clinton came in to speak for Claire, we would take his speech live too," said Jeff Benscoter, KY3 News Director.

But it just doesn't work like that. Different visits come at different times. And putting the standard political "hack" or "operative" into a story just to denigrate the other side often doesn't serve the viewers.

There are many ways to go about fair coverage when a national political personality invades the Ozarks from one party or the other, and I can only explain the way I try to approach these types of stories. I try to ask tough questions of the person and craft and angle to why he or she is here. I try to determine if there are any glaring inconsistencies in positions between the candidate and personality. I attempt to examine if the visit really helps a candidate. Does it excite supports? Does it alienate undecideds?

For instance, when I interviewed John Edwards live back in September, I asked him why the Democrats do not appear to have a cohesive policy on what to do in Iraq. Edwards and McCaskill have different positions on the war. I also asked why Edwards would help McCaskill in a place where he was so soundly defeated just two years ago.

On the other side, our story last night on Senator Frist pointed out his difference of opinion with Senator Talent on the stem cell issue. I also included polls showing McCaskill with a slight advantage and a political science professor who now gives "McCaskill the edge" in this ever so tight race.

You can expect the same type of critical thought-provoking coverage of the President's visit.

Last night we covered Frist in the News @ 6 & 10. Today we are planning coverage of Claire McCaskill's rally, with reports on KY3 News @ 5 & 6.

Is one single story on its own always 100% completely fair? That's certainly tough to do. We all wrestle with it every day. I'm certainly far from perfect. As journalists we make mistakes. Every story has an angle, a theme and the parties will argue what issues and themes are favorable to each side. But I can assure our viewers and readers we make every attempt to bring you critical coverage of every candidate, personality and issue that enters the Ozarks. If you've been watching us all along, and you're one of the silent majority, you already know this.

But sometimes it is helpful to remind the partisans on both sides of our mission.