Live Interviews Spark Listener Feedback
Live interviews with newsmakers. If I had to find a thread that runs through a couple of hundred listener emails, tweets and direct communications with my office in recent months, it would be concerns that stem from the challenges of doing live interviews. Those three- to five-minute conversations (or sometimes grillings) with politicians and policy experts are now a regular staple of Morning Edition and are being heard more frequently on the weekday All Things Considered, as well.
Listeners express concerns that each political party, faction or special interest is getting more airtime than others (these numbers vary by the news cycle, by our tally). They dislike it when guests use the live format to push talking points or slip in false or misleading information (an issue I have addressed before).
There are complaints about tone: Hosts are too combative with the guests as they seek to correct misinformation and get past talking points, or conversely, are not combative enough. Listeners also complain about political bias: Hosts challenge guests from one party or give a pass to the "opposite" side. A related complaint is that the shows simply
