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October 13, 2010 6:38 PM

MTV's Sway: Obama Town Hall Doesn't Reflect Bias

Posted by Lauren Seifert 13 comments
Sway Calloway

MTV's Sway Calloway talks about "A Conversation with President Obama" airing on MTV, BET, and CMT Thurs. Oct. 14 at 4:00 PM ET.

(Credit: CBS)

MTV, BET, and CMT will simulcast "A Conversation with President Obama," a town-hall style event aimed towards young people, at 4:00 PM ET Thursday. Organizers are surely hoping for an event as memorable as Bill Clinton's MTV appearance in 1994, which included the question, "Mr. President, all the world's dying to know: Is it boxers or briefs?"

Conservatives have criticized MTV (which like CBS is owned by parent company Viacom) for giving an hour over to Mr. Obama without providing equal time for the GOP less than a month before the midterm elections.

MTV's Sway Calloway, who's co-hosting the town-hall, told CBSNews.com's Christine Delargy the criticism is unfair.

"We spoke to Newt Gingrich in the past, we've spoken with George Bush in the past, Colin Powell, Senator McCain did the same type of forum," he said. "We put out the requests and who responds is who we showcase. It doesn't matter. It's not about Republicans, it's not about Democrats, Tea Party or any other party. It's about representation of young Americans and the issues that are important to them."

The comments come after Viacom spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew told Human events that they are not giving Mr. Obama an hour to express his views, but are instead "hosting a town hall with 250 young people to ask questions of the president."

Catch the full interview with MTV's Sway Calloway on Thursday's Washington Unplugged at 2:00pmET.

"Washington Unplugged," CBSNews.com's exclusive daily politics Webshow, appears live on CBSNews.com each weekday at 2:00 p.m. ET. Click here to check out previous episodes.

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Add a Comment See all 13 Comments
by dadirt October 14, 2010 12:19 PM EDT
Pandering for the black vote. The basis for his support. too bad for us they don't know what is going on in the country! They see black, and white, and believe the black hook line and sinker! The dems should be ashamed of themselves, but they continue to do anything for the vote, cheat, lie and steel! The democtratic motto! Any way you can, just another!
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by endurorob_5 October 14, 2010 12:08 PM EDT
O.K. MTV, maybe the people who regularly watch your channel are that stupid but the majority of us know you are doing this to give campaign time to the dems.
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by bpafree October 14, 2010 12:01 PM EDT
"which like CBS is owned by parent company Viacom" Correction: CBS is not owned by Viacom In late 2005, Viacom split itself and reestablished CBS Corporation with the CBS television network at its core. CBS Corporation and the new Viacom are controlled by Sumner Redstone through National Amusements, the parent of the two companies.
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by fairfaxjoelives October 14, 2010 11:58 AM EDT
This is from the New York Times a very liberal paper. This makes me sick, this is racism at it's worst. He is using these people..... White House Meeting for Black Journalists Doesn?t Stay Off-The-Record for Long By JEREMY W. PETERS The White House is usually quite good at keeping a muzzle on the media after one of its off-the-record sessions with President Obama and senior members of his administration. But not this week. A group of black bloggers and journalists from outlets like Essence and BET were invited to the White House on Monday for a half-day of policy briefings by the president?s advisers. The White House provided the journalists with an agenda that spelled out the ground rules: the first half of their briefings was to be on background, meaning they could report any information they learned but not attribute it to any specific official; the second half was off the record entirely. Still, that did not stop bloggers from writing about the event and, in one case, posting a video of the president?s remarks to the group. The blog ConcreteLoop.com has posted a clip of Mr. Obama?s meet-and-greet with the journalists in which he stressed the importance of White House outreach to black media, especially blogs with large black followings. ?The media is changing so rapidly,? the president said, acknowledging the role of the Web in allowing his administration to reach out beyond audiences that are mainstream media consumers.
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by pibrnj1 October 14, 2010 10:22 AM EDT
MTV put out a casting call weeks ago in search of 250 talking heads that wont go off script, cant have citizens mouthing off to dear leader,
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by endurorob_5 October 14, 2010 10:11 AM EDT
Come on MTV. Only your regular viewers are stupid enough not to realize that this is nothing more than free air time for the dems to campaign.
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by tsigili October 14, 2010 10:07 AM EDT
MTV viewers are not of voting age, anyway, so why be concerned about it?
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by Heathergreeneyes October 13, 2010 11:34 PM EDT
Yeah, 250 pre screened young Americans. I wonder how many people there were not hard core Obama-ites.
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by variablespanner October 14, 2010 11:40 AM EDT
In the entire world no one aspiring to be a REAL LEADER in a historical sense plays by the current Republican playbook. Just more wishful thinking as the REPUBLICANS attempt to paint all others with their own faults, like maintaining enemies lists.
by variablespanner October 14, 2010 12:08 PM EDT
In the entire world no one aspiring to be a REAL LEADER in a historical sense plays by the current Republican playbook. Just more wishful thinking as the REPUBLICANS attempt to paint all others with their own faults, like maintaining enemies lists.
by RobAla October 13, 2010 7:24 PM EDT
Give me a break. When was the last time anyone heard anyone backing conservative positions on MTV?
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by Heathergreeneyes October 13, 2010 11:36 PM EDT
MTV would allow Republicans on. They would just pack the audience with liberals who will attack them at every turn. In Obama's case, they pack the audience with Obama supporters! This is hollywood! It is all about creating the image you want; it has nothing to do with reality. MTV will ensure that the scene would be pro Obama and when they have a Republican on they will ensure that the scene is anti Republican.
by catmomtx October 14, 2010 12:10 AM EDT
Heather, did you get that idea from what they did during the Bush years? George Bush NEVER spoke in front of an unfavorable audience. In fact, people who didn't support George Bush were kept as far away from him as they could possibly be. There were no protest zones surrounding Bush. That is the reason people started talking about Bush being in a bubble. The same can not be said about President Obama. He has gone face to face with his critics,. In fact he embarrassed the Republicans in Congress when he met them head on and answeres everyone of their questions and did so without the teleprompter you people love to bring up.
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