ABC Shrugs Off Furor Over Debate Performance
In a surprise to no one, ABC News shrugged off the media attention it received over its handling of the debate between the two Democratic candidates on Wednesday night. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that "the morning after Wednesday night's presidential campaign debate in Philadelphia, the names on the nation's lips were . . . Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos."
"Gibson, the avuncular ABC news anchor, and Stephanopoulos, the network's mop-top political analyst, found themselves at the center of a cloudburst of criticism for their interrogation of Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton."
But ABC was unapologetic.
"The questions were tough and fair and appropriate and relevant," Stephanopoulos told the Associated Press. "We wanted to focus at first on the issues that were not focused on during the last debates."
The audience of 10.7 million was the largest for a presidential debate so far in this campaign, Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president for ABC News noted. With an audience that big, "we're not surprised that there is a huge reaction," he said. "It's yet another indication of how passionately engaged the American people are with this race."He said ABC did not regard the debate as a conflict of interest for Stephanopoulos, who had been a press aide to President Bill Clinton. "He's been here 11 1/2 years, far longer than the time he spent in the White House," Schneider said.
While most journalism experts felt that the conflict of interest question was not a concern, many felt it did take ABC too long to get to the important questions.
"I was disappointed with the first 40 minutes of it," said G. Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College. "They should have started asking questions pertaining to policy issues and leadership and not focused so much on personal questions. . . . There was nothing new."
10:51 AM ET | 04-18-2008 | permalink
