From tom Kalkman in Montrose, Colorado regarding my candidate comments:
“Wait a minute. You can’t just read responses from “Fox News” biased republicans, without checking and disputing factually unsupported statements or at least presenting the opposing democratic view. Seems like a blatant ploy by the show’s producers to court right wing viewers.
If I remember correctly, your editorial concerned which candidate would be better for agriculture, and you then presented arguments for a candidate based upon that premise…your views are what the segment is all about - presenting politically biased views as a counterpoint from unvetted viewers is disingenuous.”
Thanks, Tom. From your email and others, I have decided we need to review the ground rules for John’s World and customer support.
- My job, as an independent contractor with farm journal, is to offer opinions and analysis of ag topics. Just like our market gurus saying they think corn will go down, I offer my best judgment on other topics. In neither case are those opinions farm journal policy. Think of the op-ed page in a newspaper. USFR producers have no input. However, they have the right not to broadcast a segment. That has never happened, but it could.
- I choose the responses from viewers. I edit only for length and obvious typos. I do not, as a rule, respond point by point since I have already had my say. Other viewers can, however, as you have done.
- In agriculture, using terms like ‘right wing” is tricky. Most farmers may be far more conservative than I on policies like environmental regulations but are essentially socialist on farm subsidies. Labels don’t help much.
- I seldom show feedback that agrees with my position because that seems both self-serving and redundant. On topics like this election that may give a one-sided sense of the audience reaction, but I don’t see any practical alternative. You can always read all the feedback in original form on our website. That will give you a better idea of what others are thinking.
- I have two minutes for each segment. While I do run slightly long from time to time just to drive Tyne crazy, that is not a lot of time for complex topics, so I cannot speak to every factual controversy. I do note such disputed points and often address them in future editorials.
Finally, I intend to do everything I can to continue to make those who disagree with me know their opinions are heard. And I reserve the right to be persuaded to another point of view. We are in danger of losing the ability to debate crucial policy publicly. I believe not trying to do so is our worst option.
