With the political season in full swing, and primary results recently reported in Iowa and New Hampshire, the upcoming presidential race is coming into clearer focus. It's also been a major topic in many of your calls to our Scripps News Viewer Hotline.
Carol from Minnesota said: "So you folks are the winners when it comes to the New Hampshire primary. It’s been on all day with me. All of us people with antenna TV thank you, because none of the other stations give a hoot."
Some other viewers had different thoughts.
Darius from Illinois said: "I’m calling about your coverage of the primaries. This is only the second state and already we’ve been bombarded 24/7."
The sheer volume of input we've received about national politics and the remaining presidential candidates shows that many of you are interested in our in-depth political coverage — particularly during a pivotal primary. In fact, some of you want to see even more.
Trump coverage dominates viewer feedback
Many viewers called the Scripps News Viewer Hotline to weigh in on our coverage of former President Donald Trump's arrest in Georgia.
However, we did receive some criticism for breaking away from former President Trump's victory speech after the New Hampshire primary.
Liz said: "I just wanted to let you know that I watched last night and you all played Haley’s full speech, but you didn’t play Trump’s and I will never watch you again."
Liz is correct. We ran former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's speech in full and dipped out of the former president's speech while it was in progress. But the circumstances here are important to note.
Both speeches were given approximately the same amount of airtime — around 10 minutes each. Also, before we cut away from Trump, you'll see that he had handed the microphone to a surrogate — former Republican presidential candidate Tim Scott. Therefore, we made the decision to cut away from the speech and provide important context about it, as well as the evening's primary results from our reporting team.
Viewer Spotlight: Why Scripps News hasn't aired the GOP debates
Viewers called the Scripps News Viewer Hotline asking us why we haven't been carrying the Republican presidential debates. Here's why:
It's a fine balance, but many of you tell us that you value our fact-based political analysis, beyond just the standard talking points that we typically hear from the candidates themselves.
William from Illinois said: "I am a conservative, but I also want you to know that you actually shined last night with good coverage … I want to keep Scripps because there’s nothing else that’s honest, fair and balanced available to American viewers.”
Fairness and facts are at the center of our work here at Scripps News, so we will continue to bring you live speeches and our stick-to-the-facts reporting throughout the primary season and beyond. In the meantime, continue to let us know how we're doing — good or bad — anytime on our toll-free Scripps News Viewer Hotline at 1-833-4-SCRIPPS to lend your voice to the conversation.
We may even play your message on air!
