Is PR Directing ABC’s Woodruff Coverage?

John Gilardi posted an intriguing letter on Romenesko this morning. While expressing sympathy for Bob Woodruff, Doug Vogt and their families, he asks some pointed questions about ABC’s coverage of the story:

I can’t help but wonder whether the ABC News team has full editorial freedom on this story or the network’s PR department is dictating the coverage.

Why does the public have to rely on publications other than ABC News to get a realistic view on the medical conditions of these journalists? Why do the New York Times and others such as USA Today give us fact-based, unsensationalistic assessments of the severity of Woodruff’s condition while the ABC News coverage smells of a good spin doctor at work?

Seems to me another case of separate standards for sensitive issues involving journalists … it’s time for ABC News to stop sugar coating the story.

Media Orchard hasn’t followed this story closely enough to offer an opinion. However, we do know, from working for media companies both on the business side and in the newsroom, that the news is covered differently when it’s about you. Perhaps that’s not how it should be — or perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect anything else.

In any case, that’s just how it is. With or without the PR department’s involvement.

Our thoughts are with Woodruff, Vogt and all the other journalists who have stood side by side with our troops in putting their lives at risk during this war.

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