Blurring the Lines between News and Entertainment

Over the past few months, cable and network news programs have been asking why Sen. John McCain’s campaign pursued the endorsement of anti-gay televangelist John Hagee. Media scrutiny of the Rev. Hagee reached a wider audience on ABC’s popular daytime talk show The View on April 30.  During a heated exchange between co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck about the political relevance of Sen. Barack Obama’s relationship with controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright, Behar quoted the Rev. Hagee’s statement that God’s anger at New Orleans for having a gay pride parade caused Hurricane Katrina.

After giving the audience the opportunity to hear the Rev. Hagee’s incendiary quote word for word, Behar questioned why his relationship to Sen. McCain hasn’t received the same attention and criticism as the Rev. Wright’s relationship to Sen. Obama.  Though the hosts of The View often engage in political debates, this is the first time that involved discussion of the Rev. Hagee’s anti-gay statement has taken place on a daytime TV talk show.

The conversation on The View brought close scrutiny of Hagee’s comments to a much broader audience, and prompted Alan Colmes to ask guest pundits on the April 30 episode of Fox News’ Hannity & Colmes –which featured a clip from The View—to respond to the same issues that Behar addressed.  In this unique election climate, it’s not uncommon for the lines between hard news and entertainment to be increasingly blurred, underscoring the degree to which a wider variety of media outlets are shaping public perception of all of the candidates.

Cindi Creager is Director of National News