Do the Dems really want to debate on CBS?
By Mark Kilmer Posted in Archived | Clinton | Couric | Obama — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
CBS News had planned to stage a Dem Presidential debate last December 10, but that one was cancelled due to labor strife (writers' strike). Every single other television network imaginable has hosted an event, but CBS won't get its opportunity until April 16 in Philly.
The New York Times claims, among other sundry things:
Even CBS executives are expressing some optimism. “We’re getting a lot of positive signs,” said Sean McManus, the president of CBS News.
The network’s news division could certainly use them. The “CBS Evening News” is in last place in the network newscast competition every week, despite the addition of the most prominent name in contemporary television news, Katie Couric, to its anchor desk in 2006. And an attempt to kick-start its perennially noncompetitive morning news program, “The Early Show,” blew up recently when Shelley Ross, the producer brought in to pump up the ratings, was fired only six months into her tenure.
It's the Times, so we cannot vouch for the veracity of the assertion. But "the most prominent name in contemporary television news" will host this debate and another that CBS wants to host on April 19 in North Carolina.
Clinton spokesperson Howard Wolfson seems not to want to do another CBS debate which few might watch.
"I am quite confident that there will be additional debates and that we will work with networks and the Obama campaign to figure out the appropriate location and venue and media outlet," Wolfson told reporters on a conference call.
If the Clinton camp is afraid that CBS News and Couric will trivialize the Dem nominating competition, someone ought to let them know that the candidates and the campaigns have already done so.