"An executive at one of the three other broadcasters, who asked for anonymity because the conversations were private, said that network's executives had expressed concern to the White House about the frequency of prime-time news conferences and the financial sacrifice they were making in carrying the event."
I am sure I am not the only person to see the irony of a for-profit corporation beseeching Obama -- who believes the private sector is a piggy bank for his donor base -- to respect their need to generate revenue.
At the same time, mind you, the television networks are asking Obama to take a lower profile by not appearing on prime time. Good luck. We're talking about the same narcissist who campaigned on a stage resembling a Greek temple:
and who couldn't even wait to be inaugurated before giving himself a fancy title and lectern:
I have one suggestion to ABC, CBS, and NBC: mark your calendars for the Second 100 Days, and the Third 100 Days, and the ....
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My only potential disagreement is that the airwaves are public. As I understand it, the agreement between the FCC and the networks is that they get to use the public airwaves for 'free' (not counting intentional fines/kickback) in exchange for the Networks providing services like news, PSA's, emergency warnings, etc for "free" (though since they get to advertise during the news, don't ask me how that works).
ReplyDeleteOne could make the argument that the presidential address is a public service the networks must provide under the existing agreement (again, as I understand it).
Then again, one could make the argument that the government is a self-serving leech sucking the lifeblood out of the American people while it fills their heads with Orwellian images. And they'd be right.
Yes, good point. I don't dispute that. I just think the television networks might want to think of a better reason to convince Obama not to appear during prime time. This is the same president who thinks a "PE ratio" is "profit to earnings." Not exactly a capitalist.
ReplyDeleteOne more thing to keep in mind with this President. When he has you watching the right hand, be thinking of what the left hand is doing, in other words distraction (i.e. investigating Bush admin.on Iraq while trying to cram thru legislation on cap and trade and universal health care). He only answewred 13 questions and you can bet he hand picked the questioners if not the inquiries beforehand. No hardball questions were asked. Also bear in mind that Jeff Immelt the CEO of GE who has run the stock from $52 per share to about $12 under his tenure is also the boss of Jeff Zucker the CEO of NBC. If you watch NBC news they are a cheerleading squad for Obama, no matter what he does or what happens. The reason for this you ask? GE will be the primary maker of windmills if Obama can push thru green legislation including cap and trade, so Mr. Immelt will sacrifice the shareholders now for future profits. This was not a legitamate news conference and you will not see one no matter how many hundreds of days passes. Remeber the question by the NY Times reporter "what is the most enchanting moment at the white house", the last question they asked of Bush was "what was your biggest mistake". Just a bit of bias and lack of concern for all the problems confronting us today.
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