Fox News to air Obama, McCain documentaries
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Fox News Channel will devote key segments of its primetime schedule in the next week to documentaries on Barack Obama and John McCain.
"2008 Presidential Character and Conduct" will premiere at 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday in a time slot usually held by cable news' top-rated program, "The O'Reilly Factor." Bill O'Reilly will be off on those nights, making way for Monday's Obama docu, hosted by Bill Hemmer, and Tuesday's McCain docu, hosted by Eric Shawn.
Months in the works, the specials will dig into the character, lives and actions of the presidential candidates through interviews with family members, friends and associates from their early days as well as colleagues in the Senate.
"This is an in-depth, detailed examination that's beyond what has been broadcast in terms of these typical type of biographies," said Shawn, who like Hemmer is an anchor at the channel.
What neither documentary will do is interview the candidates themselves. Hemmer interviewed Obama in London in July; Shawn interviewed McCain earlier this year. But Shawn said the shows' focus is not what the candidates say but what they do when faced with challenges.
"The voters are evaluating these men, Obama and McCain, and I believe these documentaries are terrific learning tools by which people can watch and learn, discuss and decide," Hemmer said.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
