Richard Huff of the New York Daily News reports that Republican Party officials (and Matt Drudge) have likened ABC’s planned health care reform coverage, set in the White House and featuring interviews with the President and First Lady and a presidential town hall meeting, to an “infomercial” on behalf of President Obama’s policies.
The Republicans’ objections point to an familiar dilemma: Is there a point at which taking advantage of the administration’s willingness to create media opportunities and provide public access a display of favoritism? Where is the line between government transparency and political gamesmanship? For their part, ABC representatives say the network, not the administration, will choose questions and topics and promises that a full range of views will be represented.
“In the end, no one watching, listening to, or reading ABC News will lack for an understanding of all sides of these important questions,” ABC News Senior Vice President Kerry Smith said in a letter to the RNC.
The audience and questions for the prime-time special will be selected by ABC and only ABC, according to a spokesman, and the goal is to have a balanced broadcast with various views.
The GOP moved to buy ads on ABC to respond to the special, but ABC refused the ads, saying it has a policy against accepting “advocacy advertising.”
The special from the White House is set to air at 10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, with additional coverage appearing on “Good Morning America,” “World News,” “Nightline,” and ABCNews.com’s “Top Line.”
