The major news networks are considering cutting back on DNC coverage because Barack Obama will be giving his speech at a separate venue, thereby increasing their production costs.
Is that really the message that they want to send about how they decide what's news? That they just look at the dollars and cents of the bottom line? What about news value?
Is it not newsworthy that on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, 80,000 Americans will witness an African-American accept a major party's presidential nomination for the first time in our nation's history? Is that not in fact a historic event?
How dare they even consider cutting back just to save a few bucks -- especially after all the money they've made during this year's extended primary season.
Earlier this year, the NFL and NBC announced plans to reschedule the football season opener so as not to conflict with John McCain's convention appearance. If the networks news divisions can't manage a similar degree of flexibility, it will be an outrage.
© Jed Lewison