ABC criticized for handling of Democratic debate

By Dan Whitcomb

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Critics excoriated ABC on Thursday for its televised Democratic presidential debate, slamming the network for "shoddy, despicable" moderators who they said favored Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama and dwelled on "gossip" instead of issues.

Critics ripped ABC journalists Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, a former Bill Clinton staffer, for wasting time during Wednesday's debate on questions like why Obama wasn't wearing an American flag pin or rehashing old disputes.

"It was another step downward for network news and in particular ABC News ... whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances," Washington Post critic Tom Shales wrote in a blistering review that got wide Internet play.

Shales said the debate, which took place in Philadelphia one week before the crucial Pennsylvania primary, "dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia" and said ABC's coverage seemed slanted toward Clinton.

The Huffington Post, a news and politics Web site, lead its front page with the headline: "ABC's Gotcha Debate: Ratings Up, Reputation Down."

"The nation has witnessed, first hand, George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson for who they really are: pandering yellow journalists. Carnival barkers ...," blogger Bob Cesca wrote at www.huffingtonpost.com.

Nearly 17,000 comments flooded ABC News' Web site, many of them pouring scorn on the moderators, who were booed by the auditorium crowd near the end of the debate.

"Stephanopoulos and Gibson are the worst of hacks. Asinine nincompoopery. I'm glad they were jeered at the end," one poster, identified only as Splendoline, wrote.