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Like the news - only less exciting

The West Wing 's live debate may have blurred the line between news and entertainment. But viewers didn't find it all that entertaining.

By CHASE SQUIRES
Published November 8, 2005

NBC's live presentation of a "debate" Sunday between presidential candidates on Beltway drama The West Wing deserves credit for trying something new, but the on-screen use of a "Live NBC News" logo for added effect blurred the line between news and entertainment.

The logo was a topic of discussion on television news-related Internet sites. Newsblues.com complained the logo "smacked of cheap promotion and journalistic integrity gone south." But a poster on TVSpy.com's forum noted, "I don't think the viewers at home cared about that nearly as much as we do. I'm sure some pointy heads will get their panties in a wad over it, but really - what difference does it make?"

But when The Today Show is routinely used to hype primetime shows, and local news programs base segments on hit series, such haziness is nothing new, notes Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns the St. Petersburg Times .

"The war to separate news and entertainment was lost a long time ago," Clark said.

Sunday's mock debate, between candidates to replace Jed Bartlet (Martin Sheen) as president, featured Jimmy Smits as Democratic congressman Matt Santos and Alan Alda as Republican Arnold Vinick. Both took predictable stances based on party affiliation. There was some speech making about the nature of liberalism, global warming, oil drilling in wildlife refuges, and a very careful and roundabout mention of the war in Iraq.

Former newsman Forrest Sawyer played a stern moderator, and NBC employed its cable news arm MSNBC and reputable pollster Zogby International to report in real life on how viewers feel about the "candidates."

Clark said he has become so used to the blurred line (and trained himself to ignore the proliferation of on-screen geegaws networks have added) that he didn't notice the news logo (known in the news biz as a "bug") and didn't believe its use would harm the news operation's credibility.

NBC news did not participate in any facet of the fictional debate, but did allow the use of the logo, a spokeswoman said.

The West Wing "debate" did achieve one, unintended, level of realism. It was about as dull as a real presidential debate. It also didn't sit well with viewers. Industry insider Broadcasting & Cable magazine reported Monday West Wing was a weak fourth among the networks in the advertising-crucial 18-49 demographic, behind ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition , Fox's The Simpsons , and CBS's Cold Case . The Associated Press reported 9.6-million viewers tuned in.

Airing the last real presidential debate, in October 2004, NBC led the evening, drawing 12.3-million viewers.

[Last modified November 8, 2005, 11:58:12]