ABC News Pulls Reporter off Kucinich (Sharpton and Mosley Braun) Campaigns

Kucinich for president 2004 ^ | 12/11/03

[areafiftyone]

The day after Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich took ABC debate moderator Ted Koppel to task for avoiding questions that would be useful to voters in favor of questions about endorsements, money, and polls, ABC pulled its fulltime "embedded" reporter from the Kucinich campaign, a reporter who had been given no warning that such a move was coming and who had discussed at length yesterday with the Kucinich campaign staff her plans and her needs for the coming months.

ABC has reportedly also pulled its reporters from covering the presidential campaigns of Rev. Al Sharpton and Ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun.

This appears to be another instance of what Kucinich criticized at the debate, namely the media trying to pick candidates, rather than letting the voters do so. In a democracy, it should be voters and not pundits or TV networks who narrow the field of candidates.

This move, before any state's caucus or primary, appears based on a belief that viable candidates can be predicted 11 months prior to an election, a belief that flies in the face of the historical record. Time and again candidates dismissed as "fringe" have wound up either with the nomination or with a significant impact on the convention and in the primaries.

This action by ABC, as well as Koppel's comments during the debate, can only serve to disempower Americans, communicating to them that someone other than they is deciding elections and that their votes don't mean much.

This action also seems to conflict with the network's interest in boosting ratings and Koppel's expressed interest in making the debate exciting, given that Kucinich received the loudest applause of the evening.

ABC presumably has no vested interest in discouraging voting or in lowering its ratings. It may, however, have an interest in whether Koppel's prediction of the viability of various candidacies proves true.

[LS]

"The media is picking the candidates" on the Dem side. You just figuring this out now, shorty? And you want to run for president?

[deport]

The media strikes again..... The winnowing process is taking shape....

[witnesstothefall]

How does this press release help inform me so I know who to vote for?

[capydick]

Dont'cha just love it when it happens to one of their own?

[LetsRok]

No, the media is taking away your FREE media coverage which is wasting everyone else's time. If you want coverage then pay for it out of your own warchest. The sooner we can get the fringe "joke" candidates out of the way the better. They are using their free media coverage to take potshots at President Bush.

[bobjam]

Those three candidates are going nowhere; having a reporter follow them 24/7 is a waste of ABC's resources.

[glorgau]

appears based on a belief that viable candidates can be predicted 11 months prior to an election

But it isn't 11 months prior to the election, it is about 3 months until primaries are, for all intents and purposes, wrapped up. The main contenders are Dean, Clark, Kerrey, and (somewhat) Lieberman. Everybody else is just an extra expense.

[camas]

true

[ex-snook]

Yeah but the little guy is right on this one. The media should cover all candidates the Democrats have on their ballot. ABC is casting the first vote in the Iowa primary by cutting the air off from those with insufficient poll numbers. If poll numbers determine coverage, Dean would have been gone a long time ago. Only voters should vote.

[LS]

No disagreement there, I'm just commenting on Kucinich's total lack of a grip on reality. The fact that he is IN this "race" itself is a joke.

[LS]

No disagreement there, I'm just commenting on Kucinich's total lack of a grip on reality. The fact that he is IN this "race" itself is a joke.

[CaptRon]

It's that darned conservative bias in the media.

[LS]

Umm, I think I implied that. Are you trying to argue with the other guy who posted me?

I expect the media to "pick and choose." It's stilly to think that the media can cover 20 candidates with depth or fairness (the latter is a joke). But I am commenting on the fact that Kucinich is so far out of touch with reality that he doesn't get this.

[KarlInOhio]

ABC has reportedly also pulled its reporters from covering the presidential campaigns of Rev. Al Sharpton and Ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun.

Bad idea. If the news division doesn't have money in the budget, maybe the entertainment division should cover Al.

[monocle]

If the media would reduce their coverage of Hillary, maybe they would have the resources to cover the lesser candidates. What about the issue of equal time? Does not ABC's action smack of making the news rather than merely reporting the news?

[Cowboy Bob]

...Ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun.

I don't know why they keep calling Mosley-Braun "Ambassador" since the more appropriate title is "Moron."

[upchuck]

The American Broadcasting Company is a for-profit business. And, like all for-profit businesses, ABC is looking for ways to increase profits.

ABC made a business decision. End of story.

[Reo]

Too bad! Looks like my Kucinich-Sharpton "Dream Team" is not going to make it. Pity.

[KarlInOhio]

Ah, but Kookcinich doesn't like profits or business decisions. ABC has the ability to cover him and he has the need to be covered, so ABC must cover him. < /Kookcinich babble>