April 17, 2008

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You would think ABC would cover the bad publicity they received from their Democratic presidential primary debate---take their lumps---hopefully learn from it and then move on. (The real MoveOn has a petittion and action alert against the network.)

However, if you read their story about it online---ABC tries to make it seem like they really got a mixed reaction to their silliness:

Blogosphere Buzzes With Both Criticism and Praise for Line of Questions

ABC News has heard from thousands of angry viewers. At least some of the negative reaction came from Obama supporters, among them the liberal group MoveOn, which has mounted an action campaign to send a message to the network. One viewer wrote, "This so-called 'debate' will be shown to my communications students as an example of what shoddy journalism looks like."

"Shame on you, Charlie and George," wrote another viewer. "We deserve better." But some were more positive.

Was that really the case? I don't think so.

ABC never even gave an instance where the blogosphere praised the debate in their piece. They inserted a few positive comments to try and balance it out and make it seem like the blogoshere was split over their coverage. For shame. The debate Wednesday was so horrendous that it caused a ton of criticism from members of the MSM. Stephanopoulos defended his work as a conscious choice to focus on "issues" that had come up since the last debate, deflecting whether those were the issues that mattered.

"People also take into account...how candidates handle controversy," he said. "That's what campaigns are about, as well."

Steve Benen wrote this for C&L yesterday:

E&P’s Greg Mitchell called it “perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years.” The Washington Post’s Tom Shales called it “step downward for network news,” and noted that the moderators delivered “shoddy, despicable performances.” Will Bunch noted, “Quickly, a word to any and all of my fellow journalists who happen to read this open letter. This. Must . Stop.”

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