ABC News has declined an interview with the author of the Oprah bio.
Although Kelley did do a two-part interview with the Today show’s Matt Lauer this week, Random House spokesman David Drake says there’s truth behind those rumors that other media outlets have passed on interviews with the writer. Drake won’t name names, but ABC reportedly is one such outlet. Perhaps that’s not surprising, given that ABC’s parent company, Disney, is partnering with Winfrey on several of the new shows she’ll present on the Oprah Winfrey Network. But it is troubling to some. “If they’re deciding the merits of a book’s newsworthiness on the basis of whether or not it might offend one of their corporate partners, it’s an abdication of the primacy of letting the news value dictate the news,” says David Folkenflik, NPR’s media correspondent.
ABC News really is becoming nothing more than junk journalism. Sad too, since they once were on the cutting edge of investigative reporting. Now it’s all fluff and stuff and don’t upset Oprah and don’t give both sides to the so called ‘Face of Jesus’ story. Instead, pander. But why? Fear? Afraid Oprah will break off some deal for yet another boring talk show? So what? Or maybe, as Folkenflik implies, you’ve just simply abdicated your responsibility.
Come on, ABC, man up.
