President Obama is so worried that his government-run health care will not pass, that on June 24th ABC will be turning over its programming to The White House. Literally.
ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House. The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.
The White House plans a town hall style infomercial, with no opposing viewpoints.
Do you believe Obama when he says, as he often does, that he wants a vigorous debate on important issues?
The Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a letter of complaint that said in part . . .
Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party’s views to those of the President’s to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party’s opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.
I guess the Obama camp has burned out CNN’s (the most trusted name in news) credibility during the campaign with their ‘plants’ as questioners so they are turning to ABC to carry the load for this one.
ABCNEWS Senior Vice President Kerry Smith on Tuesday responded to the RNC complaint, saying it contained ‘false premises’ . . .
“ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.
“ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.”
Apparently, ‘diverse voices’ is not the same as opposing voices. No surprise that folks like CNN or the Huffington Post don’t mention the lack of opposing viewpoints in this ‘vigorous debate.’
Pointing out media bias has become a daily exercise, in futility. I don’t understand how journalists are not just embarrassed by the sheepish, slavish, totally in the can for this president behavior? The answer to that was written long ago, when journalism as a media watchdog died.
h/t: Provolone Greg
related links: Drudge | Time CNN | Huffington Post
