Independents and the Duopolized Dialogue

One of my long-standing criticisms of the political press and the so-called national dialogue is its monopolization by the professional partisan hacks of the Republican and Democratic parties.  See, for instance, any number of Politea posts on media malfeasance and the duopoly dialogue.  Indeed, I've even gone so far as to edit independent viewpoints into transcripts of some of the more absurd discussions between the strategists of the ruling parties.  Recently, however, it seems that Independents appear to be getting a little bit more face time on television news and opinion programming.  Nancy Hanks has been documenting the segments over at The Hankster, such as a recent discussion of budget negotiations on Fox News, as well as a handful of upcoming segments on a number of networks.  From The Hankster:

Independents continue to add their voice to the national debate on the debt ceiling and budget negotiations.

Tune in Saturday morning, July 23rd to CBS's "The Early Show " 7:00 - 9:00 am/ET, for a panel discussion moderated by John Avlon and Margaret Hoover featuring a group of NYC independents.

Also, next Wednesday, July 27th at 8:15 am/ET, catch Jackie Salit on "Fox and Friends."

Jackie's most recent oped, "How Obama can be a Non-Partisan President " was published in the Huffington Post and is slated to appear this weekend in the Des Moines Register.

Finally, in case you missed it, check out this segment from "Fox and Friends " featuring independent voters John Opdycke from New York, Greg Moohn in the DC bureau and Linda Ricke in Tallahassee, Florida.