Democrats' complaint
"Usually, it is the GOP that complains that their press coverage is unfair and biased toward the opposite point of view. In an unusual move, House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, Missouri Democrat, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, South Dakota Democrat, have written to the heads of CNN, MSNBC and the Fox News Channel complaining about the way the three cable news channels are covering Democrats on Capitol Hill," United Press International reports in its Capital Comment column.
"'We are writing to bring to your attention an issue that has become more pronounced in recent months: the lack of television coverage of press events featuring elected leaders of the Democratic Party,' the letter begins.
"Claiming 'The statistics we have demonstrate this disparity,' the two Democrats complain that administration officials were covered live on CNN 157 times while Democrats were only covered seven times over an approximately four-month period. The two men also say, 'Anecdotal evidence indicates that Fox News and MSNBC coverage follows the same pattern.'
"They close by telling Fox's Roger Ailes, MSNBC's Erik Sorenson and CNN's Walter Isaacson that they 'Look forward to hearing your thoughts on this issue.' So do a lot of other people."
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