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Presidential contenders popular on TV … for now
Will we still love them in November ‘08?
The media and the viewing/reading public are showing an unusual interest in the next presidential election. According to a recent ABC News-Washington Post poll, two-thirds of the people responding said they were following the campaigns “closely.”
Part of the reason is dissatisfaction with President Bush, whose poll numbers have dipped below 30 percent. Also, the ‘08 election will be the first contest in decades with no incumbent president or vice president involved.
But perhaps the main reason is the cast of characters has stirred up a lot of excitement. Democrat Hillary Clinton could be the first woman elected president and Barack Obama could be the first African American sitting in the Oval Office. On the Republican side, the stars being followed include Sen. John McCain and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
All of which has added up to lots of coverage. The Tyndall Report, which chronicles network news coverage, has found that so far this calendar year (through Feb. 27), campaign news gobbled up 95 minutes of the nightly newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC.
In February 1991, the three newscasts together spend less than a minute on the early campaign developments.
Tyndall doesn’t measure 24-hour cable news network. If it did, the ‘07 coverage would have been astronomical. … at least until Anna Nicole Smith’s death, which effectively bumped most political coverage off cable airwaves for weeks.
During the week of Feb. 18, presidential politics was second only to the Iraq War in broadcast, cable, Internet and print journalism — according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism.
It’s good to see the voting public stirred up about politics. But it will be not so good if campaign fatigue sets in long before it’s time to go to the polls.
Image Awards
No surprises — well, maybe one — at the NAACP Image Awards, which Fox televised on Friday.
Oscar winners Forest Whitaker (“The Last King of Scotland”) and Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”) added to their trophy collections.
“Pursuit of Happyness,” starring Will Smith and his son Jaden, won best picture honors.
“Ugly Betty” won the top TV award, and Vanessa Williams won for best supporting actress in a comedy.
The surprise? Isaiah Washington won the best actor award for “Grey’s Anatomy.” Washington, who was loudly criticized for uttering a gay slur on the set of his hit show and then again at the Golden Globe Awards (in reference to co-star T.R. Knight), has said he’s “in rehab” for his streak of prejudice.
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