ABC News Political Coverage Is Either Biased or Senseless
Having watched a good bit of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions over the past two weeks, I think the presidential race is shaping up to be an interesting race this year in the U.S.
Biased?
I was watching ABC on free over-the-air television and noticed an apparent bias at the network. During the Tuesday night keynote address by Senator Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention, ABC showed her speech in it’s entirety.
Then on Friday, I was watching Palin’s first speech after McCain introduced her as his running mate. Like many other people, I had never seen Palin before and was interested in what she had to say. I was surprised when ABC cut away from her during the middle of her speech. Instead of showing the speech, they showed the ABC commentators. I quickly switched to CBS to watch the end of the live speech.
I was watching ABC again last Tuesday during the Republican National Convention. Senator Joe Lieberman gave the keynote address that night. ABC cut away during the middle of Lieberman’s speech to their commentators. I couldn’t believe it, but again was able to switch to another network to watch the end of the speech.
Showing the Tuesday night Democratic keynote address in its entirety, while cutting off Lieberman in the middle of the Republican Tuesday night keynote address, suggests a possible political bias at ABC News.
Senseless?
If not biased, then perhaps the producers are senseless at ABC News. Showing a speaker while he or she is speaking (instead of cutting away to Stephanopolis) just seems like common sense.
I’m really not against networks having commentators give their opinions on the air. However, I feel strongly that they should provide their comments after the speech, not during it. They should let people watch the complete speeches for themselves and make up their own minds.
It is difficult to say for sure what they are thinking at ABC News. The ABC network appears to be going downhill. ABC really hasn’t had a decent program since they canceled MacGyver in 1992.