by Elinda Harrison

Created on: October 12, 2008

Should government candidates be required to hold press conferences and answer questions from the media and the public, or should they be allowed to disclose their positions in any fashion they prefer? This is such an arrogant question. should government candidates "be required" or should they be "allowed" to disclose their poisitons. If so, who will be appointed to police this non-essential government policy? And what should be followup question to this be? Should the public be "required" to listen, on command? Or should they be allowed to record and listen to it later? Who will police these requirements? Don't we have enough legitimate worries than to add this to our lists?

No. I do not think goverment candidates should be "required" to hold press conferences nor should they be required, on demand, to answer questions from the media or from the public. Instead, I believe they should be allowed to disclose their positions in any fashion of their choosing. I think we (the public) want to hear from our candidates and have access to their points of view, via internet, voice or any means they choose. In this day of overcoverage of events, I am old-fashioned and believe that my candidate can wait to disclose his/her view on a topic, until he or she has researched and/or review the impact that they items have on our society and our economy.

I think they can hold press conferences and can answer questions from the media and from us; however, I don't think they should be "required." I also do not think they should be deadlined as to when they should speak up on an issue. Much of what we read and hear from the media, we don't believe anyway, so I'd rather they (the media) stop wasting my time and let our candidates finish a statement, instead of reporting sound-bites.

I mistrust our media outlets. I don't believe they are absolutely reporting truth, but spin. They are searching for mistakes, and inaccuracies, whatever makes the better headline. I don't believe they are reporting what we really need to hear and I hate that they are arrogant enough to "tell" us what it is we are interested in hearing.

The truth is...? We live in a world where the truth is not necessarily what we are seeking. There are times when we are only searching for comfort news, calming news. Sometimes we are not seeking excitement, just relevance. A good candidate can deliver and should be "required" to deliver on his/her outlet of preference.

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