Beth Hester of the Seattle Channel sent me a thoughtful and proactive response, which I include in the extended entry.

I commend the Seattle Channel for pledging to make more of an effort to include the conservative voices that have been underrepresented on the Channel.

In the near term, I'm concerned about the decision to carry a speech from a disreputable partisan propagandist like Michael Moore, especially without giving equal time to someone who challenges Moore directly. Fahrenhype 911 would be a good choice to balance Michael Moore. Unfortunately, it might not be available for broadcast after all because of intellectual property issues. The movie's distributor is now looking into that.

In the meantime, Stolen Honor is available to us and I specifically requested that it be broadcast in order to balance all the anti-Bush rallies that have already been broadcast. Hester's response did not address my request to air Stolen Honor.

Beth Hester's e-mail:
As a result of our phone conversation I have already contacted two of the three organizations you cited below - "Celsius 41.11" and "michaelmoorehatesamerica.com" - and requested permission to broadcast their programs in concert with the Michael Moore lecture. (The Medved lecture is our fall-back programming on Friday if we are not able to secure one of the alternatives you mentioned.)

"Celsius 41.11" declined as they are going to be opening this film in theaters in Seattle shortly. We discussed the possibility of our covering their "opening" in Seattle. They have placed us on their media list and told us they will alert us of their event once they have locked down the details.

I have not yet heard back from "michaelmoorehatesamerica.com".

I was not aware of "Fahrenhype 911". Thanks for brining it to my attention.

With respect to the Foolproof American Voices and Town Hall Presents series — our coverage of these programs has been, I believe, consistent with the Channel's goals to reflect the larger civic community that is here in Seattle. While not a 50/50 split, recent Channel coverage has included a number of "conservative" perspectives (including New York Times columnist David Brooks, former Nixon Cabinet Member Bill Ruckelshaus, former WA Senator Slade Gorton, and Condaleezza Rice). The same goes with Eric Liu's show — while not a 50/50 split between so-called conservatives and liberals, he has interviewed a diverse group of guests including Jeff Kemp, a well-know local conservative. We believe these programs are reflective of our community - featuring it's social, political and religious leaders.

As a result of our conversation I also held a meeting with Channel staff members who are involved in "content" decision-making. In this meeting I shared your viewpoints and we brain-stormed different ways we can improve our outreach to conservative opinion outlets. As a result of this meeting we developed a list of organizations most likely to promote speakers or events with more conservative perspectives. We are now in the process of contacting these groups and asking to be added to their media lists and alerted of programming possibilities. I have attached this list and would welcome any additions you or your peers might have. Some of these groups are not located within the geographic boundaries of Seattle. I mention this because the Channel does see it's role as reflecting the civic community in Seattle as opposed to the larger area of King County or Washington State. As the make-up and history of the City of Seattle is politically and socially at the center or to left of center of the political spectrum, it follows that the programming opportunities available to the Channel for coverage reflect this make-up. If Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh or Bill Kristol, etc. came to Seattle, we would jump at the chance to cover them. It would be good for discussion and good TV. Unfortunately, names of that caliber and prominence who are conservative in perspective don't come here as often as their liberal brethren.

But, having said that, we can do more. In the same way that we make an effort to find opinions and events of "under-represented" voices such as ethnic or cultural groups, we can do the same for the conservative viewpoint. You and your peers can help make that happen by continuing this dialogue and ensuring we are aware of the conservative programming opportunities here in Seattle.

We do disagree on the legal requirements regarding "equal time" provisions and what constitutes an "in-kind- contributions" to campaigns whether federal, state or local. We believe we operate within the rules of the FCC, PDC and the SEEC. I would make a distinction between concepts such as equal time and that of equal access. But, I am not an attorney or an SEEC commissioner. This is one of the issues that will no doubt be addressed in your complaint to the SEEC. I look forward to the clarity that process will afford us.