Univision Responds to Alliance

I have obtained a copy of the letter sent from Univision back to Alliance Chair Joe Nunez regarding his request for equal time on the TV show Voz y Voto. If you haven't been following this story, get the background here. In short, Gov. Schwarzenegger taped an hour-long special on Univision's Voz y Voto on Tuesday. Democrats cried foul, saying it was a giveaway by one of Schwarzenegger's biggest donors (Univision Chairman and CEO A. Jerrold Perenchio has given Schwarzenegger more than $3 million this year). The chair of the Alliance for a Better California, Joe Nunez, wrote a letter to Univision, saying, "Unfortunately, your station has not offered the Alliance equal time." Now Univision has responded. Univision General Manager Diego Ruiz writes, "It appears that you have received a great deal of erroneous information concerning the production and content of this program...Your letter state that Univision provided the Governor with an hour of Network time to "promote his views" on upcoming ballot initiatives. On the contrary, in this "town hall" format, the Governor answered questions presented to him by an audience of California Latinos." The letter goes on to state that Univision was "soley responsible" for the format, noting that then-Gov. Gray Davis had a simliar town hall "on the eve of the recall election." The letter denies that the Governor's campaign was involved in audience selection, saying his staff had "no role whatsoever...as was redaily apparent from the questions they asked." The letter also notes that in recent weeks, "Roger Salazar, Art Torres, Alex Padilla, Gil Cedillo, Manny Hernandez, Dolores Delgado, and Fabian Nunez (twice) have appeared on Voz y Voto." At the end of the letter, Ruiz writes that he appreciates, "the opportunity to clear up these misconceptions," though it is clear that the Alliance request for some sort of extra time following Schwarzenegger's appearance is not forthcoming.