The problems with the coverage? The big one was in what they showed. WNDU played the Count's entire commercial, nonstop and without commentary superimposed on top. So the Count got free airtime, and in the best television real estate possible (cuz, ya know, Chocola really needs the financial help, being the only Indiana House incumbent with $1 million cash on hand and all). Moveon's ad, meanwhile, was only partially played, and with Terry yapping on top of it to boot!
The other problem with the ad: Terry McFadden's tone as he talked about Moveon. His voice suddenly changed when he said, "the ad attacking Chocola, however, was paid for by Moveon, a liberal activist group." You should've heard the contempt oozing from his voice as he said those last 3 words; you'd have almost thought you were listening to, well, cable news.
Don't want your local news coddling the conservatives? There's only one solution: write a letter.
Now.
Here's a copy of the letter I sent, if you want to use it. Don't copy it verbatim, however, or else they'll think some liberal activist group is organizing it and won't take it seriously:
To Whom It May Concern,
I normally choose to watch WNDU's news shows because the anchors are likeable, thorough, and typically lack any discernible bias. This evening, however, I was appalled at Terry's piece on Chris Chocola's new attack ad. I apologize in advance for the tone of this message, but the partisanship of the story was both sudden and uncharacteristic of channel 16 news, which made the story quite upsetting. I have several issues with the presentation of the story, both in terms of content and tone.
First and foremost, WNDU only showed a brief clip of Moveon's ad, yet they played the Chocola ad in its entirety. I am well aware that the Fairness Doctrine was ditched years ago, but why is WNDU giving Chris Chocola free airtime-- and in the middle of their newscast, no less-- yet Moveon is not?
After that, Terry mentioned that (paraphrasing), "the ad against Chocola was paid for by Moveon, a liberal activist group." The tone of his voice noticeably changed at that moment, seemingly dripping with contempt at the mention of the word "liberal." Frankly, there was enough Chocola-babying in the overall "poor little Chris has to defend himself forcefully from those mean old Democrats" narrative of the piece without the anchor spitting out the word "liberal" as if it's some sort of insult.
I have always trusted WNDU, and the McFaddens, to provide me with fair and reasonably objective news, but I for one am sick and tired of seeing Republicans get preferential treatment in the media, and the next time I see it on channel 16, I will quit watching your news and urge everyone I know to do likewise.
Sincerely,
****** ******
South Bend
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