# The Obama Show faces cancellation **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 8, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802 "2009-05-08T23:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/21 "2009-05-09T02:26:52Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Then they should give equal time to the other party in the interest of news. Oh, my god…wasn’t it your side of the aisle that was having feargasms about the Fairness Doctrine a couple of months ago? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/22 "2009-05-09T02:29:10Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oh, god yes! Equal time, I absitively posolutely insist on such fairnesss! But what would we call it? The Fairness Principle? No…too dry. The Fairness Donation? No, no… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/23 "2009-05-09T02:31:49Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Well, clearly it isn’t. If the networks calculated that the benefits did not outweigh the costs What benefit? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/24 "2009-05-09T02:33:57Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The concept of equal time is not a dead issue when one party is using donated air time. Equal time _requirements_ are dead. As I said, both Republicans and Democrats comment ceaselessly on Obama’s appearances. Republicans are not being shut out. The President, as the individual who most dictates the political agenda, _does_ get some advantages in coverage. That’s the advantage of incumency, it gets used in politics and particularly during campaigns, and it’s life. if the president does it, it’s basically news. > [@](#): > > And no, the other party did not get free rebuttal time for the recent Presidential appearances. Did they ask? And for that matter, did the Democrats ask for a ‘donation’ of pizza shop coverage when Cantor, Romney and Jeb Bush did their thing last week? > [@](#): > > This is political commercial time at the expense of the networks. Last week CNN donated some of its time to coverage of a truck hijacking in Georgia, but since it was daytime, they didn’t complain at the hijacker. :rolleyes: It’s not a donation. It is covering the news. > [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > I was taught (a million years ago in college) that, while traditionally the networks can decline to run a government speech or whatnot the government controls the airwaves and does have the right to require coverage of certain events should the wish to exercise that right. I referred to this when I made my comment about the public interest. It’s true that the government owns the airwaves and leases them, requiring the networks to serve the public interest. The government would never dare hold the networks to the promise. > [@DSeid](#): > > Does anyone have access to information on how many prime time and other appearances other recent Presidents (maybe from Carter on) held? I don’t have the access, but considering there are more networks, different means of communication, and advent of the 24-hour news cycle I think it would be hard to compare. And in the case of George W. Bush, he didn’t give a fuck for the press in the first place, so he often chose not to deal with them. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/25 "2009-05-09T02:39:04Z")
You know, Geroge W. Bush was President of the United States of America. Now Barack H. Obama is. The President is entitled to address the people when he feels circumstances call for it. The networks, as custodians of the public airwaves, should be carrying that. Not because he’s a Democrat – or a Republican. Because he’s President/ I didn’t like Mr. Bush’s policies. But he got my respect for trying to do a tough job. I think Mr. Obama deserves the same. “The Obama Show”?? Pfui! Perhaps we could replace him with Homer Simpson. After all, nobody deserves respect for their office – he’s just there to entertain us, right? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/26 "2009-05-09T02:44:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > The concept of equal time is not a dead issue when one party is using donated air time. And no, the other party did not get free rebuttal time for the recent Presidential appearances. > > This is political commercial time at the expense of the networks. Nobody is donating air time to Obama when he gives a speech as president. It is a news event that any news organization can choose whether they think is newsworthy or not. There is no donating going on. Equal time involves giving _candidates_ equal time… not presidents. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/27 "2009-05-09T02:57:33Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > You know, Geroge W. Bush was President of the United States of America. Now Barack H. Obama is. The President is entitled to address the people when he feels circumstances call for it. The networks, as custodians of the public airwaves, should be carrying that. > > Not because he’s a Democrat – or a Republican. Because he’s President/ > > I didn’t like Mr. Bush’s policies. But he got my respect for trying to do a tough job. I think Mr. Obama deserves the same. I’m not arguing with anything you’ve said except Obama’s last 2 addresses were nothing. As I stated before, he’s pissed away a lot of network goodwill. His first address was a defacto State of the Union address (not usually done by a new President) but it was appropriate given the economy. I’m being kind to call the next one a follow-up. After that he was taking up space at someone else’s expense. If Bush was making monthly appearances on prime time I would be equally annoyed and I suspect Democrats would be too. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/28 "2009-05-09T02:59:20Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Nobody is donating air time to Obama when he gives a speech as president. It is a news event that any news organization can choose whether they think is newsworthy or not. There is no donating going on. Equal time involves giving _candidates_ equal time… not presidents. 2 things wrong with your response. First, news is not provided free, networks have commercials. Second, everything that comes out of the President’s mouth is not news. The networks are absolutely donating air time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/29 "2009-05-09T03:00:52Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If Bush was making monthly appearances on prime time I would be equally annoyed and I suspect Democrats would be too. Which proves what exactly? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/30 "2009-05-09T03:03:12Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Second, everything that comes out of the President’s mouth is not news. Next time a camera is on him while he’s muttering to himself, let me know. I think a speech meant for public consumption counts as news. > [@Magiver](#): > > The networks are absolutely donating air time. No, they are devoting airtime to it. This is not a donation. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/31 "2009-05-09T03:22:51Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Next time a camera is on him while he’s muttering to himself, let me know. I think a speech meant for public consumption counts as news. He speaks in public all the time. That doesn’t make it news. > [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > No, they are devoting airtime to it. This is not a donation. Head spins 360 degrees. No, they are clearly donating air time. There are no revenue commercials. It’s money lost. It’s lost on a network level as well as a local level because both lost advertising revenue. This is not debatable. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/32 "2009-05-09T03:52:42Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > He speaks in public all the time. That doesn’t make it news. > > Head spins 360 degrees. No, they are clearly donating air time. There are no revenue commercials. It’s money lost. It’s lost on a network level as well as a local level because both lost advertising revenue. This is not debatable. No, because they don’t **own** the air time. That’s much like referring to the Tenth Amendment as what the Federal Government gives the states, or Indian reservtions as what we gave the Indians. The airwaves are a public trust, which the stations which they own or supply are licensed to use. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/33 "2009-05-09T03:54:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Head spins 360 degrees. No, they are clearly donating air time. There are no revenue commercials. It’s money lost. It’s lost on a network level as well as a local level because both lost advertising revenue. This is not debatable. It’s lost money for sure. But would you say NBC donated airtime to OJ Simpson when it aired his Bronco chase during Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/34 "2009-05-09T04:26:12Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s lost money for sure. But would you say NBC donated airtime to OJ Simpson when it aired his Bronco chase during Game 5 of the 1994 NBA Finals? They had commercials during the NBA Finals. As I’ve pointed out, I’m not against the State of the Union address and other messages of relevance. In my area half of the stations didn’t carry the last one. That’s the point of this thread. I watched the one before that and it consisted of about 8 minutes of speech and then a question and answer period for 52 minutes. It was nothing. I flipped back and forth on the last one and it was less relevant than the one before it. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/35 "2009-05-09T04:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > **Magiver** : His first address was a defacto State of the Union address (not usually done by a new President) I think he gave us fair warning that he was **not** going to be like other Presidents. I _like_ being kept informed. Why don’t the networks try rotating in coverage of his speeches for those who grow restless or want something with explosions and skinny women. For those who see the President as a world leader in days of crisis, we can stay tuned. Of course he is making news every time he stops at a microphone. That’s why the mike just happens to be there. But you are mistaken when you say that television has not covered Presidential news conferences before. John Kennedy’s news conferences were a delight to watch. He was very witty. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/36 "2009-05-09T04:31:07Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > They had commercials during the NBA Finals. Not while OJ and AC were on the lam, they didn’t. > [@](#): > > As I’ve pointed out, I’m not against the State of the Union address and other messages of relevance. In my area half of the stations didn’t carry the last one. That’s the point of this thread. I watched the one before that and it consisted of about 8 minutes of speech and then a question and answer period for 52 minutes. It was nothing. I understand that not every single word Obama says in these things is vital, and that he’s using his position to get more time and advance his agenda. If the networks would rather show “Lie to Me” and “The Mentalist” or whatever because the news is inconveniencing them, I think it speaks poorly for their motives. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/37 "2009-05-09T04:42:33Z")
Public airwaves are owned by the public, not by the networks. The networks are allowed to use them for free out of the goodness of the government’s heart, but the primary purpose of the public airwaves is to serve the interest of the public, not the networks. I think that if a network like Fox is going to decide it wants to put its own interests ahead of the public’s, then I think their license needs to be revoked. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/38 "2009-05-09T05:02:48Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Public airwaves are owned by the public, not by the networks. The networks are allowed to use them for free out of the goodness of the government’s heart, but the primary purpose of the public airwaves is to serve the interest of the public, not the networks. I think that if a network like Fox is going to decide it wants to put its own interests ahead of the public’s, then I think their license needs to be revoked. PBS (all 5 feeds) didn’t carry the last Obama speech in my area as well as CW and Fox. What would possess you to think the President should get air time at the expense of the networks just for the asking? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/39 "2009-05-09T05:08:26Z")
Because, like I said, the public owns the airwaves not the networks. Where does anybody get the idea that they’re entitled to make a profit with a public resource without ever being obliged to serve public interest? It’s not like the networks actually PAY to use those airwaves. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2009, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802/40 "2009-05-09T05:24:17Z")
Jesus Christ the republic is truly crumbling. The day when the evening news is brought to you by Coke is the day we know to burn it to the ground and start over. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-obama-show-faces-cancellation/495802.md?page=3)