The biggest fear is of doing anything that could get you or your network accused of being liberal
In 2002, I was an on-air commentator at MSNBC, and also senior producer on the "Donahue" show, the most-watched program on the channel. In the last months of the program, before it was terminated on the eve of the Iraq war, we were ordered by management that every time we booked an antiwar guest, we had to book 2 pro-war guests. If we booked two guests on the left, we had to book 3 on the right. At one meeting, a producer suggested booking Michael Moore and was told that she would need to book 3 right-wingers for balance. I considered suggesting Noam Chomsky as a guest, but our studio couldn't accommodate the 86 right-wingers we would have needed for balance.
I was never a fan of Phil Donahue, but he did have the highest rated show on the MSNBC network at the time of its cancellation and it looks like conservative corporate mainstream media interests axed it in lieu of more pro-war programming.
Liberal media bias my arse…