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On the Record: Memorable Feedback from Newspaper Editors We have discussed on numerous occasions the idea of videotaping the

interviews and posting the videos online. We attempted to do it on several occasions but encountered resistance from the interviewees. (They agree to our policy that such interviews are on the record and will be audio-taped, but object to the videotaping.) Ironically, one of those who objected to the videotaping was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor. Editorial and Opinion Editor William Osborne with The San Diego Union-Tribune I know that if I were a candidate, I would favor video interviews online because it would be an easy and free way to get my message out to voters. On the other hand, from the standpoint of my position as editor of the editorial and opinion pages, I would be a little concerned that candidates would play to the camera, offer nothing but scripted sound bites and be reticent to get into issues in detail. Osborne with The San Diego Union-Tribune Its already hard enough to get candidates to say anything substantive even when their comments are not going to be broadcast. Editorial Page Editor Glenn Sheller with The Columbus Dispatch Posting the interviews on-line would increase voter information, but only in the sense that all information is good and maybe someone (other than a paid staffer or opposition researcher) would watch the whole thing. Editorial Page Editor Bob Caldwell with The Oregonian Sound-bite-driven coverage is unfortunate, but it is more in line with how media is consumed these days. Sitting through most editorial board interviews takes more time and energy than most casual voters are willing to expend. There are some I have been part of that I would have put on mute, if that had been an option. Editor Sue Schmitt with The Long Beach Press-Telegram We routinely recordaudio onlyall editorial board interviews with national, state and local newsmakers, including political candidates. We do not videotape the interviews. With the audiotapes, we have them transcribed, then publish an edited transcript in the newspaper and online. Osborne with The San Diego Union-Tribune

To: The San Antonio Express-News1 From: Robert J. Pohl Date: 22 March 2011 Subject: Editorial Practices at 21 Newspapers in U.S. Metropolitan Cities QUESTIONS SUBMITTED Four questions were sent to daily newspapers in the 50 most populous cities in the United States. The questions involve the editorial practices at each newspaper: 1. Does your editorial board videotape its interviews of national, state and local political candidates? 2. If your editorial board does videotape its interviews, do the videos get posted to the Internet for everyone to see? 3. Has anyone ever proposed that your editorial board videotape its interviews and post the video to the Internet for everyone to see? 4. Do you think that videotaping candidates during the editorial interview (which, as far as I know, all utterances are on the record during these interviews) and then posting the video to the Internet for everyone to see would increase the number of well-informed voters? Do you think that videotaping the editorial interviews and posting them to the Internet would improve Americas electoral process? SUMMARY OF EDITORIAL PRACTICES Only 21 newspapers responded to the queries, and a couple did not answer every question. Each newspaper was contacted more than once and given ample time to respond. Moreover, numerous people at each newspaper were contacted, yet only 21 newspapers responded2. Only four editorial boardsthe boards at The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Baltimore Sun, The San Francisco Chronicle and The NashvilleDavidson Tennesseanout of the 21 that responded routinely videotape editorial
Rivard (chief editor), Bruce Davidson (editorial editor) and Thomas Stephenson (publisher)the targets of a petition that urges The San Antonio ExpressNews to videotape editorial interviews for various reasons: http://www.newsworthysanantonio.com/bexarcounty-constable-mark-vojvodich-is-peti. A copy of the petition is available in the Appendix. Also, the editorial practices of The San Antonio Express-News and an exchange with Editorial Editor Bruce Davidson are available in the Appendix.
2ThelistofnewspapersthatdidnotrespondtomyqueriesisincludedintheAppendix.

1Specifically,thisinformalreportisdirectedtoRobert

interviews of political candidates and post the video to the Internet. Five editorial boards periodically videotape candidate interviews for high profile and dicey races. One does so infrequently, and another periodically provides short videotapes of Q&As with candidates. Two editorial boards routinely make audio recordings of editorial interviews, and one stated that edited transcripts of editorial interviews are provided to the public in print and online (emphasis added for The San Antonio Express-News). In response to question four, eight newspapers responded with contingent and/or equivocal opinions, seven newspapers responded in the affirmative, three responded in the negative, two did not answer the question and one was unsure. Each response warrants citation. QUESTION FOUR: WOULD VIDEOTAPING EDITORIAL INTERVIEWS OF POLITICAL CANDIATES INCREASE THE NUMBER OF WELL-INFORMED VOTERS AND IMPROVE AMRERICS ELECTORAL PROCESS? CONTINGENT, EQUIVOCAL RESPONSES 1. Editorial Director J.R. Labbe with The Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Having the video available means those who take the time to review it have an opportunity to learn something they otherwise might not know. That said, very few people other than other politicians or their staffs take the time to sit through a 15-, 20- or 30-minute video of a candidate talking. Anything that might assist voters to invest the time and effort to educate themselves helps the process. Im just not convinced that videotapes of interviews are the answer. It is, in my opinion, a better investment of my staffs time to provide educated, experienced assessments of the politicians various platforms. 2. Editorial Page Editor Taylor Batten with The Charlotte Observer: I have my doubts that doing so [videotaping candidates during editorial interviews and posting the video to the Internet] would do much to improve democracy in America. Its just not the kind of footage thats likely to draw a large number of viewers, and those who do view it are probably those folks who already are paying extremely close attention to the election. The people who most need to get better informed before voting are also probably the least likely to watch an editorial board candidate interview on the Web. That said, we might do it at some point, in some form, so readers have that option. 3. Editor and Vice President of News Sherry Chisenhall with The Wichita Eagle: If people would actually watch the videos, yes, it would certainly contribute to helping inform voters. Out experience has been that readers will only watch shorter edited takes of responses, however, and only in high-interest races. Attention span for watching raw video of 30-, 45- or 60-minute candidate interviews is unfortunately nearly nonexistent. It would be educational for voters to watch these interviews, but we have typically found that five minutes of video interviews are about the maximum length that people will watch. In rare cases, such as a very closely contested U.S. Senate race, that attention span might stretch, but that is an exception to what is generally the case.

4. Editorial and Opinion Editor William Osborne with The San Diego Union-Tribune: I am not aware of any statistics, survey data or other hard data that would indicate the effect videotaping and online posting of these interviews might have on the education of voters one way or another. One might assume that it could result with an increase in the number of well-informed voters. But it could also be that the voters who might be interested in viewing such videos are already well-informed voters. Or it could be that some voters who viewed the video might then ignore other forms of candidate information. I know that I were a candidate, I would favor video interviews online because it would be an easy and free way to get my message out to voters. On the other hand, from the standpoint of my position as editor of the editorial and opinion pages, I would be a little concerned that candidates would play to the camera, offer nothing but scripted sound bites and be reticent to get into issues in detail. So, would the electoral process be improved? Thats an open question. 5. Editorial Page Editor Glenn Sheller with The Columbus Dispatch: Im sure some readers would be interested in seeing these. However, knowing that their comments were to be broadcast probably would inhibit candidates from speaking as freely as they otherwise might. Its already hard enough to get candidates to say anything substantive, even when their comments are not going to be broadcast. 6. Editorial Writer Karin Klein with The Los Angeles Times: Having watched such videotapes myself, I do find them helpful, but I have little information on how many voters take time to watch them. 7. Chief Editorial Writer J.E. McReynolds with The Oklahoman: I believe the presence of a camera and camera operator would change the nature of editorial board meetings, probably leading to less candid answers and/or stage-managed answers by politicians. Our editorial board meetings are always on the record, but we allow the guest to request an exception for particular comments during a meeting. However, in response to the first part of question four, McReynolds wrote, Probably. In response to the second part of question four, McReynolds wrote, Doubtful. 8. Editorial Page Editor Bob Caldwell with The Oregonian: Posting the interviews online would increase voter information, but only in the sense that all information is good and maybe someone (other than a paid staffer or opposition researcher) would watch the whole thing. For the most part, however, the production values of unedited editorial board meetings make for incredibly dull video. So maybe a few people would do it. That doesnt mean it shouldnt be done, or that something more finished and interesting might grow out of the effort but raw videotape is dull, dull, dull. Such tapes may have academic or documentary value but they would not generally increase the quality of voter knowledge about the candidates and issues.

AFFIRMATIVE RESPONSES 1. Editor and Vice President of Content and Audience Development Mark Silverman with The Nashville-Davidson Tennessean: Yes [in response to the first question.] In response to the second part of the fourth question, Silverman wrote, Yes. 2. Editorial Page Editor and Vice President Keven Willey with The Dallas Morning News: Yes and yes [in response to the fourth question]. As noted above, we do so on occasion [videotape editorial interviews and post the content to the Internet]. The key is having the resources to do so regularly and then making sure voters know of their availability online. In most cases, edited versions would likely attract more attention hour-long candidate interviews can be tedious viewing for even the most politically attuned. 3. Editorial Page Editor Myriam Marquez with The Miami Herald: We believe videotaping editorial interviews and posting them is a service to readers/voters who want to get more in-depth information about candidates positions before voting. So in that sense, it improves the electoral process. 4. Managing Editor Bob Romantic with The Mesa East Valley Tribune (this paper publishes three times a week; the others publish daily): Video of editorial board interviews would certainly help voters, in the same manner that televised debates are beneficial. Many editorial boards treat their interviews as debates by bringing all candidates for an elected office at the same time. Our editorial board currently does individual interviews, but that may change in the future. 5. Editorial Page Editor Dan Herrera with The Albuquerque Journal: It probably would [in response to question four]. 6. Editorial Page Editor Andrew Green with The Baltimore Sun: We feel that posting the interviews, which are, indeed, on the record, is an important tool in fostering a more informed electorate, but it is not the only one we have found to be successful. We also posted candidates responses to our endorsement questionnaires online, and in the case of the governors race, we created a summary of the candidates positions on the major issues, along with our take on them. That last technique got by far the largest audience. 7. Deputy Editorial Page Editor Lois Kazakoff with The San Francisco Chronicle: Yes, if voters engaged with them [in response to the fourth question]. But theres a lot of competition for eyeballs out there. To watch an hour-long video of an editorial board meeting is probably low on most voters to-do lists. NEGATIVE RESPONSES 1. Editor Martin Baron with The Boston Globe: (a) No. People who wish to be well informed make themselves well-informed, whether editorial board interviews are taped and posted to the Internet or not. People who do not become well-informed are unlikely

to seek to become well-informed simply because editorial board interviews of political candidates are posted on the Internet. There are numerous other forums, including debates and community meetings, many of them aired on cable-access channels, that allow voters to become informed. There are also other sources of information about candidates, including websites and newspapers that outline candidates positions on various issues. (b) No. The American electoral process is unlikely to be materially improved by posting editorial board interviews to the Internet. The process depends on a wide range, and far bigger, factors than taped interviews. Its a small piece of the puzzle. Finally, none of this means Im opposed to taping editorial board interviews of political candidates. They would be of interest to some people. They are unlikely to hurt the electoral process, even if they dont materially help it. Candidates, however, are likely to be less candid in those interviews, and they would sound a lot more like stump speeches. We do not routinely send reporters to candidate interviews conducted by the editorial board, although there are some instances (presidential candidates, for example) when we do. 2. Editor Sue Schmitt with The Long Beach Press-Telegram: Not really [in response to question four]. Sound-bite-driven coverage is unfortunate, but it is more in line with how media is consumed these days. Those who are interested can never get enough information. It is likely that they will watch an hour of editorial board, but they are already well-informed. Sitting through most editorial board interviews takes more time and energy than most casual voters are willing to expend. There are some I have been part of that I would have put on mute, if that had been an option. 3. Editorial Page Editor Scott Gillespie with The Minneapolis Star Tribune: Possibly, but only if people actually have the patience to watch the entire video [in response to question four]. Most web research has shown that 5 minutes is about the limit unless the subject matter is especially riveting. The other problem is that adding videotaping to the process really changes the dynamic of the meeting and, I believe, would cause the candidates to be much less forthcoming with the Editorial Board. So if youre talking about endorsement interviews, I wouldnt be in favor of it. NO ANSWER OR UNSURE 1. President and Publisher of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (one of four newspapers that videotapes editorial interviews and posts them to the Internet): We dont edit these video transcriptsand theyve proven to have limited interest to online viewers who are more accustomed to the fast-paced (and well-edited) interviews from television. 2. Editorial Page Editor Donald Luzzatto of The Virginia Beach Virginian-Pilot: Not sure [in response to question four]. Not all editorial board conversations are on the record at all times. Candidate interviews are another matter. 3. Editorial Writer Wayne Greene with The Tulsa World (this is all that he wrote): The Tulsa World does not tape any editorial board interviews, and has not seriously considered the option.

QUESTIONS ONE THROUGH THREE: CURRENT EDITORIAL PRACTICES 1. Labbe with The Fort Worth Star Telegram: We have on rare occasions videotaped interviews with politicians who come before the board. We dont do it oftenvery labor intensive for our staff, which is small. Also, quality is an issue since the only place we can guarantee lighting and sound quality is the video studio, and it is very small. If we have a politician worth videoing come in, the number of people who want to be present at the interview is large, and the studio wont accommodate everyone. Yes, we post the video. 2. Gillespie with The Minneapolis Star Tribune: [We dont post] the entire interviews, but we have done very short Q&As with some candidates to use on our website. Regarding question three, Gillespie wrote, Yes, weve talked about it. 3. Batten with The Charlotte Observer: We have not videotaped our editorial board endorsement interviews with candidates. We have talked about doing so, and may do so in the future, but have not to this point. 4. Silverman with The Nashville-Davidson Tennessean: Yes [to question one] and they [the videos] are often posted on our Web site. 5. Chisenhall with The Wichita Eagle: Periodically [to question one]. We dont tape all candidate interviews as a routine matter. We record interviews in higherprofile races in which reader interest in video posted on our website will be worth the time investment of editing and posting. Weve done this for several years in races of significant public interestgenerally highly competitive congressional contests, mayoral races, or high-profile county commission or city council races. 6. Willey with The Dallas Morning News: Occasionally, yes [to question one], but not as a matter of routine. Generally, we post an excerpt. On occasion, as in particularly dicey campaign situations, we post both an excerpt and the full version. 7. Osborne with The San Diego Union-Tribune: We routinely recordaudio onlyall editorial board interviews with national, state and local newsmakers, including political candidates. We do not videotape the interviews. With the audiotapes, we have them transcribed, then publish an edited transcript in the newspaper and online3. We do not post the audiotape itself. We have discussed on numerous occasions the idea of videotaping the interviews and posting the videos online. We attempted to do it on several occasions but encountered resistance from the interviewees. (They agree to our policy that such interviews are on the encourage The San Antonio Express-News to published unabridged transcripts of editorial interviews with all political candidatesespecially local candidates.
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record and will be audio-taped, but object to the videotaping.) Ironically, one of those who objected to the videotaping was Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former actor. 8. Sheller with The Columbus Dispatch wrote that the newspaper does not videotape editorial interviews and that, yes, the idea has been proposed. 9. Klein with The Los Angeles Times: No [to question one]. We do audiotape. Regarding question three, Klein wrote, There have been discussions. 10. Luzzatto with The Virginia Beach Virginian-Pilot wrote that editorial interviews are not videotaped and that, yes, the idea has been proposed. 11. Herrera with The Albuquerque Journal: We do not videotape. No one has ever proposed doing so. You do understand that our website is open only to subscribers, so the general public would not have access. It would add value to the price of subscription, versus buying the paper on the street. 12. Marquez with The Miami Herald: Yes, we videotape interviews with political candidates in key races, such as U.S. Senate and Miami governor and mayoral races. We post it on The Miami Herald website and the tape stays up for over a month. 13. Schmitt with The Long Beach Press-Telegram wrote that the newspaper does not videotape editorial interviews and that no one has proposed the idea. 14. Greene with The Tulsa World wrote that the newspaper does not videotape editorial interviews and did not respond to other questions. 15. Baron with The Boston Globe wrote that the newspaper does not videotape editorial interviews. In response to question three, Baron wrote, Anyone? Anyone at all? Dont know. In any event, youd have to ask the editor of the editorial pages, Peter Canellos. Canellos never responded. 16. Brenner wrote that The Milwaukee Journal Sentient videotapes editorial interviews and posts the video to the Internet. 17. McReynolds wrote that The Oklahoman does not videotape its editorial interviews and that, yes, the idea has been proposed. 18. Romantic wrote that The Mesa East Valley Tribune does not videotape its editorial interviews and that, yes, the idea has been proposed. 19. Caldwell with The Oregonian: We sometimes videotape major editorial-board interviews. These would include the general election gubernatorial candidates and the nominees for the U.S. Senate and key contested House races. These are put

on-line without significant editing in most cases. In the 2010 governors race, we put both the raw interviews online. We also condensed the interviews and added brief commentary and placed the condensed, highly edited interviews online, too. 20. Kazakoff with The San Francisco Chronicle: National, yes. Most statewide also [in response to question one]. In response to the second question, Kazakoff wrote, Yes. Thats the point: transparency. In response to the third question, she wrote, I assume you mean for more general interviews. Yes, this has been much discussed among editorial page editors and writers. With a few exceptions, we dont do this because it requires staff resources that we do not have. (It takes a full day to convert video to a form we can post online.) The traffic on the video we have posted is minimal. And I do mean minimalmaybe a few dozen viewers at most. 21. Green with The Baltimore Sun: Yes, we do frequently videotape endorsement interviews with candidates. We try to do so in every instance in which a candidate comes in for an in-person interview. (In smaller races, interviews are often conducted over the phone.) We have posted the videos on-line, though not in all cases. We are limited in terms of manpower to edit the videos, so, again, we have focused our efforts on the highest-profile races. In the governors race last fall, for example, we had a great deal of success in breaking down the interviews with the two main candidates so that we posted each day a video of each of them talking about a particular topic, the environment, education, jobs, etc. That seems to be more popular (and more useful) than simply posting the entire hour-long interview in one chunk. No one outside the paper has requested it or suggested it to us, but we thought it was a worthwhile endeavor, and as I said, done properly, it was fairly popular with our audience.

Appendix

Petitioning The San Antonio Express-News


Dear Robert Rivard (chief editor), Bruce Davidson (opinion editor) and Thomas Stephenson (publisher), In April, The San Antonio Express-News endorsed Dr. Thomas Hoy, candidate for District 1 of Alamo Community College District. Four candidates were interviewed Rowland Martin, Hoy, Joe Alderete and Tyler Ingraham. Some candidates were well informed while others were not. Although Bruce Davidson, a man who has been monitoring San Antonio for more than 25 years for The San Antonio Express-News, asked intelligent questions and gained valuable knowledge for his endorsement, only a sliver of this information was made public in the 531-word editorial. Surely, San Antonians deserve more. Videotaping the editorial interviews and posting the video to the Internet is simple and inexpensivethere is no excuse for The San Antonio Express-News to deny San Antonio this service. Although I intensively worked on Ingraham's campaign, I was barred from observing the editorial interview. As a student and freelance writer, this was disconcerting. I understand the rationale for the restriction (in the past, campaign managers and staff have attempted to answer for unprepared candidates); however, the solution is below. As the signatures indicate, numerous residents of San Antonio think that the following would improve San Antonio's electoral politics: All editorial interviews associated with political endorsements ought to be videotaped and posted online for public viewing. Being able to scrutinize candidates during the interview process (everything that is said during the interview is already on the record) and being able to scrutinize the questions presented to candidates would, without a doubt, assist voters. Numerous and hitherto concealed insights (e.g., what questions get asked and how candidates respond when all that is said is on the record) would, as we petitioners believe, help us make more-informed decisions about who should be an elected official. The insights that such a service would provideyes, The San Antonio ExpressNews would be providing a momentous service to the communitywould be newsworthy and maybe become adopted by other media organizations, which would further facilitate our desire for a more free and open society that facilitates an increase of well-informed voters. Sincerely, Robert J. Pohl and Tyler Ingraham, former candidate for District 1 Trustee of Alamo Colleges

An Exchange with San Antonio Express-News Editorial Editor Bruce Davidson (19 to 21 June 2010)
Dear Mr. Davidson, would you please forward this to Mr. Rivard? Several prominent San Antonians have signed the petition: http://www.newsworthysanantonio.com/pages/apetition-on-behalf-of-a-more-free-and-open Also, would you confirm receipt of the letter that I sent you? Best wishes, Robert

___________________________________________
Robert, I have received your e-mail. I am copying Bob Rivard this response, but I work for Publisher Tom Stephenson. Rivard is the best editor the Express-News has had in my 29 years at the paper, but the Editorial Board is my responsibility and I report to the publisher. We have posted audio excerpts from Editorial Board meetings with candidates in the past, although never the entire meeting and never video. However, we do not have adequate staff in our current era to spend the time doing the task you request. I wish we did. I would love to post audio and or video from our meetings, but for now, that is simply not a possibility due to our staffing issues. This not an Express-News-only situation, but one that confronts all American newspapers. Developments at newspapers around the nation are sending a clear message. The model for community journalism is changing and it is not clear what system will emerge. We are happy to receive your input and engage in a conversation about serving voters in Bexar County, but without new resources I can assure you that videotaping every editorial board meeting with candidates, and then posting them, is outside the realm of possibility for my staff. Perhaps a community group could tape forums at neighborhood gatherings or other meetings, and the staff at mySA.com, which works for Mr. Rivard, could assist in posting video in posting it as part of a City Brights blog. Our reasoning for prohibiting campaign

staff members form sitting in on Editorial Board endorsement meetings centers on our observations that many candidates know less than their staff. We want to see the candidates stand on their own and not be able to use a lifeline when discussing issues they should know or have a support group in a meeting that is desgined to be neutral. Thanks for your interest in the E-N and democracy in our community, Bruce Davidson Editorial Page Editor San Antonio Express-News

___________________________________________
Dear Bruce Davidson, I am intent on San Antonians having access to the insights that the Express-News Editorial Board has exclusive access to. Other petitioners, even several prominent members of our community, and I have given numerous reasons that justify the videotaping of the interviews that the Editorial Board conducts. The reasons warrant considering how this service can be provided -- not a rejection. You cite staffing issues as the reason for the rejection; however, I find this explanation inadequate. I would happily loan my video camera for the cause. And I am almost certain that I could find people willing to volunteer the time to upload the video. As far as I am concerned, the taping of the interviews requires little effort. One, the video camera needs to be positioned in such a manner that it captures all the people present in the room. Second, the video needs to be uploaded to the Internet. That is all that must occur for this momentous service to be provided for San Antonians. This service IS extremely cheap to provide. The video could even be uploaded to YouTube if E-News doesn't want to expend the money to create a new page on the Website. I've videotaped numerous events and know from experience that once the camera is positioned, nothing more needs to be done. And I also have experience uploading video to the Internet, which requires little effort as well. You wrote: "[W]ithout new resources I can assure you that videotaping every editorial board meeting with candidates, and then posting them, is outside the realm of possibility for my staff." Even if there is more labor involved than I realize, would E-News implement the videotaping of interviews if I can raise the requisite money and provide the volunteers? Would you estimate how much this momentous service to San Antonians would cost ENews? Given that you recognize the value of my proposal, this offer seems to warrant your approval. This service is workable -- and if volunteers handle the labor, or at least the uploading of the video, I would find it unconscionable if Express-News rejected the petition. http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/robertrivard/

On Behalf of a More Free and Open Society, Robert J. Pohl

________________________________________
Robert, You have an exaggerated impression of the exclusive access of the editorial board. Candidates in most campaigns go to dozens of similar meetings with neighborhood associations, professional associations and various other organizations. You can accomplish the goal of showing people the candidates being questioned by videotaping any of those meetings and putting them on YouTube. We will continue to interview candidates and provide the public information in the way we believe is most appropriate and realistic for accomplishing our numerous missions. Bruce

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The San Antonio Express-News refuses to disclose valuable information by failing to videotape and post to the Internet all editorial interviews associated with political endorsements. In other words, The San Antonio Express-News refuses to behave transparently. Exerting public pressure on a private corporation is as American as cherry pie. Several people are currently collecting signatures with the intent of improving San Antonio's electoral process. Numerous people have given positive feedback and several prominent San Antonians have signed the petition. But more support is needed if we petitioners are going to convince Bruce Davidson (Express-News editorial editor) and Thomas Stephenson (Express-News publisher) to provide a service that will enhance our electoral system. Please help us improve our electoral process. To sign the petition, go here:

http://www.ipetitions.com/ petition/robertrivard

A Few Comments from Petitioners


Dr. Steven G. Kellman, professor of English at UTSA Comment (19 June 2010): Since most voters know nothing about most of the candidates on a long ballot, making interviews with candidates public would provide an important service to representative democracy. Dr. Rodolfo Rosales, professor of political science at UTSA Comment (17 June 2010): I support this idea completely, Bob. As you are one of the most read papers in San Antonio, I would think that you would take advantage of this strategy. It would serve us all well. Dr. Charles Feldstone, professor of psychology at San Antonio College and UTSA Comment (19 June 2010): Dear Mr. Rivard, I thoroughly agree with Mr. Pohl; this would be a remarkable service to the community. If the service is also publicized it might increase voter turnout. (When my wife and I voted late in the day in the District 7 runoff for the Alamo Colleges Board, we were the sixth and seventh voters for the day.) As an additional incentive, if you announce that you intend to follow Mr. Pohl's suggestion, I will hold off on my plan to cease subscribing to your ever dwindling, minimally covering, and poorly proof read newspaper. Janice Clayton, professor of English at San Antonio College Comment (20 June 2010): I have taught at SAC for many years, and I fully endorse the petition that is presented here. Making the interviews public would give voters much more information about the ACCD candidates for the board. More information should lead to more informed voters. Dr. Wayne Owens, professor of philosophy at St. Mary's University Comment (22 June 2010): This is one of the better ideas regarding local politics I've seen in a long time. Just do it.

The following newspapers, despite multiple contacts, did not respond to my queries: The New York Times The Chicago Tribune The Houston Chronicle The Philadelphia Inquirer The Arizona Republic The Detroit News The San Jose Mercury News The Indianapolis Star The Jacksonville News The Austin American-Statesman The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) The El Paso Times The Washington Times (District of Columbia) The Seattle Times The Denver Post The Las Vegas Sun The Atlanta News The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri) The Fresno Bee (Fresno, California) The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, Louisiana) The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) The Sacramento Bee Omaha World-Herald The Colorado Springs Gazette The Oakland Tribune The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

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