This story is based on an article posted at Human Events dealing with MTV's claim that since President Obama's telecast on MTV is not political, there is no need for the station to provide opposing opinions. The article was followed by another article at Human Events about the audience and the questions being prepared for the show.
The first article states:
"The so-called "A Conversation with President Obama" will be live and commercial-free on six Viacom networks at 4 p.m. on Thursday. The networks will not give equal time to a Republican before the election, according to a spokeswoman.
"MTV denies that the Obama hour of TV is political, despite the timing, weeks before the midterm elections."
The second article explains:
"The good news: President Obama is going to take questions from audience members at a live town hall event on Thursday, October 14. The bad news: You have absolutely no chance of being in the audience, and even if you did, your questions would be pre-screened and written for you.
"...The call for audience members spread online quickly last week. MTV was seeking "males & females, 18+" with "diverse interests and political views" to sit in the audience and possibly ask President Obama a question. Two of my colleagues were completely honest on their applications and listed themselves as "conservatives." Unsurprisingly, they didn't make the cut."
I don't know if this is standard politics or not. I do know that I am bothered by it. As I have gotten involved in local politics and have attended local political debates, I have learned that it is not unusual for the candidates to have their supporters ask suggested questions. That really isn't news--it's just practical politics, but to totally control who will be in the audience and to give them scripted questions to ask does seem to be a bit extreme.
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