Conflict of interest

[oldhardhead]

From: The fox watching the henhouse department:

If this isn't cheating by the Obama campaign, I don't know what is:

My dictionary defines “moderator” as “the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting.” On Thursday, PBS anchor Gwen Ifill will serve as moderator for the first and only vice presidential debate. The stakes are high. The Commission on Presidential Debates, with the assent of the two campaigns, decided not to impose any guidelines on her duties or questions.

But there is nothing “moderate” about where Ifill stands on Barack Obama. She’s so far in the tank for the Democratic presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out.

In an imaginary world where liberal journalists are held to the same standards as everyone else, Ifill would be required to make a full disclosure at the start of the debate. She would be required to turn to the cameras and tell the national audience that she has a book coming out on Jan. 20, 2009 — a date that just happens to coincide with the inauguration of the next president of the United States.

The title of Ifill’s book? The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. Nonpartisan my foot.

VP Debate Moderator Pens Pro-Obama Book

Debate, Tanked Ifill of Obama.

The Glaring Conflict of Interest

McCain campaign didn’t know about book

She hurt her foot. Perhaps Rush Limbaugh could take her place. That would be just as "fair".

[Pineygirl]

Can you even IMAGINE if the situation were reversed and she was writing a book on McCain or Palin?

Everybody would go nuclear!

[Arius]

Originally Posted by oldhardhead

From: The fox watching the henhouse department:

If this isn't cheating by the Obama campaign, I don't know what is:

VP Debate Moderator Pens Pro-Obama Book

Debate, Tanked Ifill of Obama.

The Glaring Conflict of Interest

McCain campaign didn’t know about book

She hurt her foot. Perhaps Rush Limbaugh could take her place. That would be just as "fair".

Have you read the synopsis of the book?

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

THE BREAKTHROUGH is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy.

Seems like an interesting read, and perhaps if Colin Powell or Condi were running it would be an issue for liberals as well.

[oldhardhead]

Funny, we were just discussing the "fairness doctrine" and the need to "balance" those pesky conservatives!


From the Publisher's (Random House) summary of the book:

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

Gwen Ifill as moderator? The Audacity. One can only Hope for Change!

--------------------------------------------------------
I can see it now. The debate moderator:

Mr. Biden, what thoughts do you have concerning Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and his ability for forging a bold new path to political power?

Ms Palin, what thoughts do you have concerning Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and his ability for forging a bold new path to political power?
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What would they say if a different author, one who also wrote about the same candidate, the author of This Book, were the "moderator"?

I don't see the MSM making a mention, or an issue of it. She's one of the MSM.

If her ankle hurts to much, I wonder if Jerome R. Corsi is available to serve as moderator.

There is a difference. If Obama wins, Gwen will probably sell a lot of books. She has an additional reason to support him.

[Sassygrl]

I am a real admirer of Gwen Ifill. She is like a metronome in her delivery and pretty unique in her ability to disappear into the background when she moderates. I assume most people are unfamiliar with her style because you have to be able to watch something that is as dry as toast. We are accustomed to being entertained with news and debates. Her style is to allow people she interviews and the news to speak for themselves. No 'infotainment' with her.

I will read her book and get back to ya with my opinion on her bias.

[Arius]

Originally Posted by oldhardhead

Funny, we were just discussing the "fairness doctrine" and the need to "balance" those pesky conservatives!


From the Publisher's (Random House) summary of the book:



Gwen Ifill as moderator? The Audacity. One can only Hope for Change!

--------------------------------------------------------
I can see it now. The debate moderator:

Mr. Biden, what thoughts do you have concerning Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and his ability for forging a bold new path to political power?

Ms Palin, what thoughts do you have concerning Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and his ability for forging a bold new path to political power?
--------------------------------------------------------

What would they say if a different author, one who also wrote about the same candidate, the author of This Book, were the "moderator"?

I don't see the MSM making a mention, or an issue of it. She's one of the MSM.

If her ankle hurts to much, I wonder if Jerome R. Corsi is available to serve as moderator.

There is a difference. If Obama wins, Gwen will probably sell a lot of books. She has an additional reason to support him.

I doubt that she will sell many more books if Obama wins. In fact she would probably sell more is he doesn't since the discussion will turn into "was American ready for a black president?", which will give her book a boost.

Odd that out of that whole description, only one sentence jumped out at you. The truth is she is hardly the liberal mouthpiece you wish she was (it does seem the GOP is already finding a scapegoat in the pending Palin disaster).

[Pineygirl]

OHH is right.
While everyone has a political bias, it's wrong ethically for someone who is actually writing a book about a subject to serve as a moderator in a debate.
I don't care which party it is -- the conflict of interest/bias factor is off the charts.

[Arius]

Why is it ethically wrong for someone who writes a book on a subject to moderate yet not for someone who makes a living reporting on a subject to do so?

[Arius]

FYI.

Jim Lehrer is not an employee of PBS. He owns the production company that produces the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer along with Robert MacNeil and Liberty Media (a very conservative company). The show is NOT owned by PBS, they buy the show from MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. Lehrer is really a man who sells the news to PBS in a format he chooses along with very conservative partners.

So therefore he stood to benefit from being the moderator of the first debate.

But he did a remarkable job, as will Ms. Ifill. No worries here.

[Pineygirl]

Originally Posted by Arius

Why is it ethically wrong for someone who writes a book on a subject to moderate yet not for someone who makes a living reporting on a subject to do so?

Because the book has a public point of view.
A reporter is not supposed to have a public point of view.