Has the term "journalistic ethics" become an oxymoron?

Last night, ABC News hosted a debate between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  It has been a somewhat insane primary season with ugly politics being played at every turn.... and last night was one of the ugliest examples of it thus far.

I recorded the debate and began watching it at 9:30 PM or so... it was a 2 hour debate so I was pretty tired as it ended.  During the whole debate, I was not quite sure what was going on (I'm guessing it was due to being sleepy) - I just knew something wasn't quite right.

In every debate so far, Senator Obama has been poised and risen above the "politics as usual" attacks thrown his way.  Senator Clinton has had good and bad moments in the debates - personally, I have not been impressed by her performance in them.  She seems bitter and uses attack politics to try to make herself look better than her opponent.  I believe voters are smart enough to see through her and the results of the primaries are proof of that as Senator Obama has a commanding lead in delegates and popular vote.

Well, back to last night...I went to sleep not truly understanding what I had just witnessed.  This morning I received an email from an old time friend, Marcia, explaining exactly what had happened - Senator Obama had been railroaded!  My initial reaction was "naw, we're just being paranoid"... then I started reading and found out that YES, horrible multi-level political attacks had been leveled at Senator Obama... and here's a small sample of the public and media backlash:

1. The ABC News Web site has received over 18,000 comments regarding the debate and just looking at the first few pages, it's obvious that the public is outraged by the lack of professionalism and journalistic integrity shown last night by both George Stephanopoulus and Charlie Gibson.  People have posted numerous comments demanding they be fired and about once or twice per page, there's a comment complimenting the debate (some of these could have been planted by ABC News). Some of the more interesting comments include:
   • "I am very disappointed that it abc spent half of its precious national debate time on questions about lapel pins and guilt by association. As a high school social studies teacher trying to interest young people in the genuine policy issues faced by our republic, I am stunned that what used to be one of our top three television news organizations would ignore so many crucial issues in order to rehash personal topics that just make the American people more cynical. The debate was a disservice." - jcrider5344
   • "I can't believe I once took Charles Gibson to be a serious journalist. I actually believed that he could replace Peter Jennings. Was I wrong! Given that Hillary's husband was once George Stephanopoulos' boss, I didn't expect much from him. Nevertheless, I decided to watch the debate because of Charlie. Thanks, Charlie. You've lost a long-time fan." - vetforobama
   • "Gibson, Stephanopoulos...clearly hitmen. Ten million viewers watched as ABC News destroyed its reputation." - chyxct98
2. The blogs are blowing up with postings ripping ABC News, George and Charles:
   1. On AlterNet:
      1. ABC Blows It!
      2. Worst. Debate. Ever.
      3. Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Flag Pins and '60s Radicals
   2. On The Huffington Post:
      1. ABC Debate: High Ratings, Critics Give Broadcast Poor Reviews
      2. Obama Criticizes Debate, Attacks Clinton For Being "In Her Element"
      3. David Brooks Praises ABC, Debate, Because He Lacks...
      4. The ABC Debate: A Shameful Night for the U.S. Media
   3. The Guardian in the UK:
      1. US network faces backlash after Democratic debate
      2. Debate moderators force Obama on defensive
   4. Editor & Publisher:
      1. Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Hit on Focus on Minor Issues
   5. The Boston Globe:
      1. Gibson, Stephanopoulos criticized for work on debate
      2. Obama says debate focused on 'gotcha,' not policy issues
   6. Philly.com
      1. ABC gets an earful after debate
      2. Does Gibson Know The Constitution? (64 comments)
   7. In The Washington Post:
      1. In Pa. Debate, The Clear Loser Is ABC (over 200 comments)
      2. A Debate About the Future (hundreds of comments)
   8. Daily Kos:
      1. Let's Be Absolutely Clear About Last Night's Debate (501 comments)
      2. As a former ABC News employee, I have to say... (225 comments)

It's really sad to see how such a strong news network which has produced great journalists like Peter Jennings and Ted Koeppel has stooped this low.

The debate was held at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center which is beautiful, educational and represents the founding of our nation, and this makes the mess that ABC News called a debate even worse.

In my opinion, George Stephanopoulus should have said "I cannot participate in this debate since I could be biased."  But he (and ABC News) obviously did not care about journalism ethics - they attacked Senator Obama relentlessly and I am hopeful that the nation noticed the travesty - especially the voters of Pennsylvania and they show it in next week's primary!

Comments

[Katya]

The debate was a train wreck for ABC. Since the moderators were apparently both judge and jury, Stephanopoulus should have "recused" himself on the basis of his inability to remain impartial.

I tuned out after about an hour.