by Don Surber says that Fox is in the right for not allowing Ron Paul’s participation in the final pre-primary debate in New Hampshire. His justification? The fact that Paul’s fans “stuff every online poll on the Internet”.
Whoop-ti-doo. First, polls are a joke anyway, particularly in a close election cycle like this one. Nothing is more irritating than the constant navel-gazing that dominates memeorandum and other aggregation sites on slow news days. Who cares? Poll reporting is merely an opportunity for writers to attempt to influence the debate.
The relevant facts are that Ron Paul is on the primary ballot in New Hampshire, he significant support in the state, and he has something that the American people deserve the opportunity to hear.
It is particularly galling that Fox could not even be bothered to define an objective criteria for Paul’s exclusion. No news organization has any business whatever deciding who is allowed to speak at a public election forum.
The purpose of our news media is primarily to report facts and, when such is clearly defined, editorialize. News organizations, however, certainly should not be allowed to interfere in the democratic process. The people at Fox seem to have forgotten the limits that exist on their mandates.
