C-SPAN slanting right

In the December issue of Extra!, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR) published a study of the guest list on C-SPAN's "Washington Journal." Though C-SPAN's "flagship viewer call-in program" prides itself on its reputation for fairness, FAIR's study found that reputation does not reflect reality. But C-SPAN's response thus far has been silence. Extra! studied the Washington Journal's guest list, tabulating all 663 guests who appeared on the show in the six-month period from Nov. 1, 2004 to Apr. 30, 2005. Guests were classified by gender, ethnicity, party affiliation (if any) and occupation. The study also looked at the think tanks most prominently represented on the show. Among the most striking findings: * Of the partisan guests, Republicans outnumbered Democrats nearly two to one (134 to 70). Not a single representative of a third party appeared during the study period. * tPeople of color made up only 15 percent of Washington Journal's guest list (100 out of 663). People of African and Asian heritage accounted for four percent each, while those of Middle Eastern and Latin American descent represented three percent each. No Native Americans were identifiable during the six months studied. * Male guests outnumbered women by four to one, at 80 percent to 20 percent. Moreover, 69 percent of guests were white males, while just three percent were women of color. tJournalists accounted for nearly a third of all guests (32 percent), the largest single occupational group on the guest list. Of opinion journalists, 32 were right-of-center while only 19 were left-of-center. * Citizen-based organizations and public interest groups accounted for just nine percent of total guests. "Balance is our No. 1 goal," Peter Slen, Washington Journal's executive producer and part-time host, once said, adding: "We keep official stats on the Washington Journal, OK? Republicans, Democrats, conservative, liberal, moderates–we try to stay within the week nearly perfect as far as the balance goes." But since publication of the study, C-SPAN has declined to comment on the results, saying only that they would "keep it under advisement." They also turned down a FAIR offer to appear in the Washington Journal to discuss the issue.