"The media should live by the slogan, 'Just the facts.' Reporters should be required to report the news, not interpret it. The public wants hard facts, not a pompous editorial from an arrogant, over-paid network anchor. People have minds of their own, and they should be allowed to use them freely." PA

"At times people confuse the fact that editorials and commentaries are not hard core news. When this happens people may mistake opinions as fact." OH

"There is no longer a division between editorial and fact." MD

"Conflicts between facts and opinion often arise in the media. One of the major reasons is due to the opposing demands from the voting audience. There are people who believe only confirmed, accurate news, unpolluted by a reporter's background or particular views. Still others appreciate an intelligent and well-supported commentary. Journalists need to find a balance between straight facts and covering conflicting opinions." OR

"There are a few reporters who express their opinion in a story and try to pass the opinion as fact. Reporters of this type are abusing their rights as members of the press. The press should only be used as a vehicle to relay information for people to read and form their own opinions." OH

"The media should present only straight-forward, unbiased facts; opinionated statements made by media personnel should be clearly shown as opinions, and they should not be presented as a fact in any way." MO

"They need to tell the facts, and nothing but the facts. There is no need for the rest." SD

"'Just the facts ma'am, just the facts.' Friday was no Sherlock Holmes, but he knew what was important." PA

"Conflicts between facts and opinion often arise in the media. One of the major reasons is due to the opposing demands from the voting audience. There are people who believe only confirmed, accurate news, unpolluted by a reporter's background or particular views. Still others appreciate an intelligent and well-supported commentary. Journalists need to find a balance between straight facts and covering conflicting opinions." OR

"The press should provide people with straight facts. Its opinion should not be involved in news coverage." OH

"Good news reporting should be strictly factual and never subjective, except, of course, for editorials." MA

"The media's job is to inform the public with the truth and the facts and leave society to form its own opinions and conclusions on subjects." VA

"The role of the media should be one of an onlooker. The media should stand by and report on a story with impartiality and composure, with equal air time for both candidates. If the media would stand back and let the public view a scene without the extra media dramatics, it would be easier for the public to make their own interpretation. In today's society, with anyone being able to make a statement or print what he wants, it is getting harder and harder to formulate your own interpretation." MD

"While the media does have the freedom to say what they want, they should use common sense and fulfill their status as unbiased newscasters. If they wish to voice their opinions, they should do it through the proper forum such as an editorial or similar medium. This does not mean they cannot show the negative information about the candidates. On the contrary, this means they should give the people this information, but they also must share the negative material that pertains to all other candidates. They must not consistently repeat one candidate's bad points while only making a passing remark about the other's. They must balance their remarks so that they will have an equal impact upon the voters." OK

"The media play an important role in the outcome of an election. But they need to be more bi-partisan and unbiased in their reporting on the candidates. The press should use its power to inform the American people not to influence them." AL

"In short, the media needs to stop gossipping and telling private facts about a candidate's personal life. Instead, they should provide fair, objective reporting for the voters." MI

"The media should be an institutional place from which any person can draw true and important information that can and should be used to help every individual make a decision about which candidate to vote for." KS

"The public reads and listens every chance it gets, hungry for information about the candidate's opinions and views. It is up to the media to present to the public the facts, and not direct their attention to other unimportant nonpolitical issues." WI

". . . The media did not adequately cover the candidates' stands on relevant issues." PA

"In order to increase public awareness of the issues, all networks should have a minimum of no less than three minute clips of a candidate's speech." NY

"Just like it is the candidate's job to become elected, it is the journalists' job to make sure the public knows everything about the candidate before election day comes around." OR

"The media needs to realize that they are the general public's eyes and ears. They need to give the citizens of America all the facts so the people can make up their own mind without the media's little hints. Remember, the citizens own the airwaves, so they should get what they want." IL

"No one can deny the 'power of the press.' But that power can be abused and corrupted. . . .The media does not belong at the helm of political thought and political elections. Its job is to keep the people informed and aware of political events." OK

"Who will lead the people? This question must be decided by the people and the people alone. The role of the media is to present facts to the American voters and let them make their own decisions. Their job is to inform the public of each candidate's qualifications that pertain to his character and to his capacity to lead. The media are supposed to be the purveyors of truth. . .They should always present both sides of the story. In this way, they cannot be accused of unjustly influencing an important public decision. These are ideals that need to be kept in perspective by responsible media reporting." CA

"Although slime sells papers and boosts TV ratings, one must sit back a minute and realize that the media was made to inform and enlight, not to manipulate and control." OH

". . .when candidates decide to run for office they must be very conscious of their actions, being aware that anything they do could open themselves up to the press. And hopefully, when it's all said and done, the media will get a hold of the dishonest, unfaithful and cheating politicians, sending them home where they belong, not in Washington running our country." SD

". . .in the realm of politics, is not the primary function of the media to educate and enlighten the people rather than to entertain? PA

"The purpose of the media during elections is simple: give us the facts, and tell us what is important. Unfortunately, this is not the role the media currently chooses to take." SD

"The media is the life-line of politics. Political candidates depend on the coverage they receive through the media. The public depends on the media to tell them who is running for what office. The sole purpose of the media is to inform and possibly educate the public. We, the public, rely on the media to give us unbiased and well researched information. We develop most of our opinions based on the information provided by the media. It is the responsibility of the media to provide truthful and completely unbiased information." OK

"The role of the media should strictly consist of informing the public of facts and incidents that have importance. Importance doesn't mean who's with whom or who has done what years before, but importance means ideas, possibilities, and plans that may affect the future. The news should show no signs of gossip or unfocused facts." OR

"It should serve as a resource that people can use to find out about the candidates with relative ease, but at the same time, it should make an effort to keep its reporting as unbiased as possible, leaving the voter to make up his own mind." MD

"That role the media should play in the campaigns is that which they pretend to play--a simple informer. The only opinions which should be expressed through the media are the candidates' opinions on the issues. The only influencing should be done by the candidates. . .(But) 'Joe American' cannot just walk up to a candidate and have a one-on-one discussion. For this reason, the role of the media is much greater than that of informer to the American public. The media has now become our political adviser." OH

"Although the press is also entitled to freedom of speech, their personal views should not be brought forth to influence the public. The candidates' future plans for our country should be presented, and then left to the people to determine their own opinions. . .The role of the media should be to present the important information as simply and as truthfully as possible." MA

"The media should show both sides of a contest and show them fairly." IN

"The media should give the public a fair overview of the candidates. They should let citizens know facts about the candidates, and aid the citizens in researching the candidates. The media's job in choosing the candidates for public office should be straight forward factual information." IL

"In trying to reason out what role I feel that the media should play in national campaigns, I realized what a difficult position the media is in. On the one hand, it has a responsibility to report information about the personal lives of the candidates because it may affect the way that they perform their jobs. However, reporters also have to use discretion in choosing between what is reporting and what is slander. The effects of the decisions that reporters make regarding the coverage of personal issues are so far-reaching that they inevitably make or break the candidate. If people set up guidelines as to the parameters of reporters' responsibilities and force them to stay within these boundaries, then the quality of national election coverage will gradually improve. We, the people, have a right to know the truth about our candidates." PA

"In order for the media to fulfill its duty, it should release only the facts that deal with the election, not with lifestyles, history of the candidates, and their personal opinions. The events should be reported as they happen and they should report only on what the candidates say, not what the reporters interpret. When the candidates aren't campaigning or giving speeches, the news reporters should do as the former president of CBS News, Richard Salant, suggested, and that is to report on the candidates' 'record in public office or his past statements on the budget deficit.' He also said that the news reporters are sometimes '. . .just too lazy. It is easier to cover the mud-slinging.'" OH