FOX NEWS'S EXCLUSION FROM "MEET THE PRESS"

It seems like a feud is in the making between Fox News and all of us here at NBC. I want to address this issue because, as you all know, I was the moderator for "Meet the Press." On Thursday 17 January 2008, NBC was set to host a special, live edition of "Meet the Press," and without any visible obstacles, I was anticipating for the show to run smoothly. To a certain extent and much to my dismay, this would not be so. Five minutes before the show was to air, Fox News Anchor Kristin Cook approached me and proclaimed that she was ready to participate in the event. I then informed Miss Cook that NBC had not originally scheduled her to appear on the show, however, I did inform her that although this was the case, I wouldn't mind her taking a seat in the discussion panel. I did not use the Davis Enterprise's late response towards attending the show as an excuse or reason for Miss Cook to participate in the event. I did however, mention, that I was unsure if the Davis Enterprise was going to participate in the show because I could not contact the respective News Analyst. I further went on to state that regardless of the Davis Enterprise's participation in the show, I could add Miss Cook to the line-up of News Analyst's. Unfortunately and somewhat insulting, Miss Cook stated to my face: "If I don't have to go on Camera, then I don't want to." And that is where the feud seemed to have begun.

I don't want to believe that I am under a foolish pretense by believing that all of the participants, both journalists and candidates are to be aware of the way that our show or any other political event is traditionally run. "Meet the Press" traditionally invites Print Analyst's or any other form of analyst's, not involved in television, to participate in the show. With that being said, I truly hope that this frivolous and insignificant "feud" is over. NBC News is here to focus in on the candidates and we take pride in our presentation of the news; we do not have time to be addressing mundane events which do not contribute to the public's desire for political awareness.To wrap this up, I would like to say to Fox News that it is unfortunate that the events pursued in the manner in which they did: GET OVER IT.

- Fabian Gonzalez, NBC Anchor