What we're up against

I recently came across this article over at Third Party Watch in which columnist Matthew Tulley of the Indianapolis Star reveals the behind the scenes aspects of his job when he fails to mention all candidates.

This is a constant battle here and Minnesota, and for the most part our media has with a phone call here and an E-mail there done a fair job. Still this past week with Sue Jeffers, it has once again indicated our media has a party based criteria for coverage rather then a candidate based criteria. I too fell into the trap of calling it a publicity stunt among other things, but the reality is she is a candidate for governor and that alone should be the only "stunt" necessary to get her name in the paper every once in a while. While that and the fact she's not a vampire and is doing what a candidate for governor is supposed to do.

This morning on the radio I hear about the Republican and Democrats recently endorsed candidates for congress, yet a Google search of the Independence Party endorsed candidate in CD 6 John Binkowski will not find one media report, despite the fact there have been numerous articles about the battle for that open seat and John has sent out a press release.

I am fully aware that compared to Tammy Lee or Peter Hutchinson, John has as of yet not earned full coverage. Still a brief mention of his endorsement within the articles on the race would seem justified.

It's a hell of an uphill battle, I'm just glad I'm not from Indiana or a Libertarian.

By the way I know many in the media do come across this blog occasionally, and I do want to thank you for doing a fair job balancing what your readers, listeners, or viewers want and giving us in the Independence Party as well as other 3rd party candidates a fair shake. I know that between now and November most Minnesotans will have an oppurtunity to get to know Binkowski and others through the work you do. Keep it up, the more the better. People are sick of reading the same story every election clycle, mix it up you might find everyone benifits.