Several Nevada news outlets declined Sharron Angle's recent request that media who interview her be her “friend,” ask questions she wants to answer, and allow her to ask for contributions.

Of the Nevada television stations and newspapers Media Matters approached, just one, KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, would give her a place to ask for money, and none would allow her to choose questions.

“She could come on and ask for money if she will just come on,” said Ron Comings, news director of KLAS-TV, a CBS affiliate, noting he would be willing to do that to bridge the gap she has created with local media.

But he added, “We have to be able to ask our questions, that is what the media does. We ask tough questions of the people who want to represent us. If it is just the matter of money, though, we will let her come on and beg for her $25.”

Comings was referring to Angle's comments during an interview with Fox News last weekend, (see below) in which she said she needed the press to be her “friend” and allow her to give out the address of her fundraising website.

She also added: “We wanted them to ask the questions we want to answer, so that they report the news the way we want it to be reported.”

Several news directors in Nevada told me both requests were out of the question.

“No,” News Director Adam Bradshaw of KVVU-TV, a Fox affiliate in Las Vegas, said about both ideas. “In the political season, we can't let the candidate dictate the agenda. We don't pre-screen questions for any other subjects.”

On the topic of asking for money, Bradshaw said, “That is why they buy commercials. They can buy commercials and ask for all the money they want.”

Bradshaw added that he was not surprised given Angle's past press relationship: “I think her campaign is unique, nothing she has done has surprised me.”

Mary Beth Farrell, station manager and news director at KRNV-TV in Reno, an NBC affiliate, said she usually asks viewers which questions they want. “Especially when it comes to public affairs,” Farrell said. “We are the voice of the viewers. We regularly ask viewers to e-mail in questions and those are the questions, among others, we ask.”

As for allowing a money plea, Farrell stated: “absolutely not. She has commercials for that.”

Reporter Anjeanette Damon of the Las Vegas Sun, who is based in Reno and covers Angle, said, “I wouldn't agree to ask any certain questions that she wants to answer. That is not how reporters operate.”

At another Fox affiliate, KRXI-TV in Reno, Mark Hatjakes, creative services director, said being fair and balanced does not mean allowing subjects to pick questions.

“That is not really what we do,” he told me. “We go by the moniker of balance. We don't go for any agendas.” Regarding the contribution request, he also stated: “She can do that all day long on commercial schedules.”