In the wake of Republican charges that ABC was attempting to “exclude opposing viewpoints” from its June 24 forum on healthcare reform, the media was awash in concerns that the “town hall” would not allow for challenging questions to President Barack Obama.
Conservative talk-show host Sean Hannity proclaimed that “Journalism in America is dead.” Meanwhile, Washington Post columnist Howard Kurtz expressed concern that the forum would marginalize “stakeholders” such as private insurance companies and pharmaceutical corporations.
As it turned out, Republican talking points and corporate interests were really very well represented at the forum.
The same cannot be said of the 59 percent of the public, and equal percentage of physicians, who, according to recent polls, support single-payer national health insurance. Not a single question about single-payer was posed by either ABC’s hand-selected forum guests or by hosts Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson. (Watch FAIR’s video on ABC’s single-payer blackout.)
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