Convention coverage or infomercial?

Analysis

By David Bauder

updated 4:34 p.m. ET Aug. 26, 2008

NEW YORK - National political conventions have become, in NBC's Brian Williams' words, "four-day infomercials." But it's not always clear the message is getting through.

The tension between convention planners and television news organizations that don't want to be seen as doing the politicians' bidding was obvious at the start of the Democratic meeting that will nominate Sen. Barack Obama for president.

When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was addressing the convention Monday, drawing a contrast between Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly was in a booth far above the delegates interviewing a pollster. O'Reilly waved in the direction of Pelosi on stage with a dismissive hand.

"Now we have Nancy Pelosi bloviating, and I say that in an affectionate way, behind us," O'Reilly said. "It doesn't seem like the crowd is on the edge of their seats."

Fox's viewers weren't allowed to judge for themselves. Same thing for CNN at the time, where Wolf Blitzer was holding court as Pelosi talked. Among the cable news networks, only MSNBC gave Pelosi's speech any real attention.

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture between NBC and Microsoft.)

Three hours later, as CNN analysts were wrapping up the night, several talked about the absence of "red meat" attacks on the Republicans. But Democratic activist Hillary Rosen noted that Pelosi was doing some of that — only CNN wasn't really listening.

On a night Obama's team clearly had set aside for assuring American voters that if they got to know the nation's first black major party-nominee better they would see similarities to themselves, most of the networks didn't bother listening to Obama's half-sister.

Katie Couric and Jeff Greenfield were talking on CBS when Craig Robinson was onstage talking about his sister, Michelle Obama. During a Jimmy Carter tribute, Fox aired clips of demonstrators outside the convention hall. Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill got little airtime.

"How can you cover a convention when you're talking while the main speakers are speaking?" asked PBS anchor Jim Lehrer, whose network lingered more on the speakers.

Each night a convention has a main story — Tuesday's is whether Hillary Clinton's supporters will fall in line behind Obama — and a theme set by the party. The economy is what convention organizers want to focus on. PBS has the obligation to cover both the story and the theme, Lehrer said.

Showing the Democrats in action
"We're going to see the Democrats in action — what they say, what they look like," Lehrer said. "Not just Obama and Clinton, but all of the other ones, too."

Even when the convention podium is quiet, the cable news networks are talking about the event all day. At one point Tuesday, an MSNBC anchor was interviewing another reporter covering the convention — an 11-year-old reporter.

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Several things may explain this. The networks paid to send much of their political talent to Denver, and want to show them off. They fear political speeches may turn off an audience that has, essentially, tuned in for political speeches. And they don't want to be sucked into an infomercial.

Viewers who want that message unfiltered were better off watching PBS or C-SPAN.

When the evening ended following Michelle Obama's speech about her husband, and some cute family unity with Barack Obama seen via satellite, commentators on both CNN and Fox judged that too little had happened on the first night.

"I thought it was a beautiful speech, beautifully done," said Fox's Chris Wallace. "But I can't help but feel after the first night of the convention that it was largely a wasted night."

Democratic strategist James Carville was mad that there weren't many attacks on McCain.

"They did a poor job explaining what the choices are," added CNN's David Gergen.

His colleague, John King, said that wasn't necessarily what Democrats were trying to do on the first night. "They are trying to race across the viability threshold before the Republicans can say that this man is not ready to be president," he said.

The action seemed better suited Monday for the broadcast networks. ABC, CBS and NBC are each devoting an hour each night to the convention coverage. They had originally mapped out an hour of prime-time for three of the four nights of the convention — as they all did four years ago. But strong interest in the campaign pushed the networks to add a fourth hour.

The slow moments earlier in the evening — so deadly to the cable pundits who craved more amusement — suited ABC, CBS and NBC perfectly. It enabled them to offer highlights of Sen. Edward Kennedy's emotional speech during the first half hour of their broadcasts, then segue directly into Michelle Obama's speech.

Perfectly timed, it was finished in time for the local news.

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