"You can't count on free media like this all the time"
Maverick gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman reasons that an upcoming "60 Minutes" segment will help him deflect the political hardballs heading his way should his independent campaign pick up steam next year.Nice line, Stanford.Friedman spent Thursday with "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer at Friedman's 400-acre ranch near Medina for a piece expected to run late this month or early in December.
And if that isn't enough for a political novice, Country Music Television will air a sneak preview next week of "Go Kinky," a proposed reality show based on his campaign for Texas governor.
"You can't count on free media like this all the time," Friedman said of his good fortune.
...
Democrat Chris Bell's gubernatorial campaign doesn't seem particularly worried.
"We heard that, in the last episode, Kinky gets voted off the island," Bell spokesman Jason Stanford said.
Getting a piece on 60 Minutes is valuable. If Friedman appears serious in the interview, and 60 Minutes doesn't take anything out of context, then it's quite a boon for his campaign.
Scharrer also briefly mentions the "equal time" that I pointed out might be a factor. It's certainly not fair for one candidate to be on TV constantly during a campaign when the others aren't. To my limited knowledge, I don't know that there is an "equal time" provision in Texas law as there is in federal law.
Posted by Evan @ 11/04/05 02:03 PM
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There is no obligation for media to provide equal time to candidates anymore. The FCC's "Fairness Doctrine" was repealed during the Reagan era, in the '80's. Look it up.
Posted by Julie @ 11/10/05 05:50 PM
Here is the link to an article discussing the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine:
http://www.museum.tv/archiv...
Basically, it was considered to be a violation of reporters' free speech to make judgments themselves on how much time to give candidates. Similar to the "free speech limitations" argument against campaign finance reform.
Posted by Julie @ 11/10/05 05:53 PM
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