Barack Obama's upcoming swing through Europe and the Middle East is now guaranteed to be a major media event, certified by the presence of the three network anchors.
The Washington Post has learned that Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric will travel overseas next week, lured by the prospect of interviews with the presumed Democratic candidate. That means the NBC, ABC and CBS newscasts will originate from stops on the trip and undoubtedly play it up.
Sources in both television and politics confirmed that the Williams, Gibson and Couric interviews will be parceled out on successive nights in different countries. That means the Obama camp will have drawn the anchors halfway around the world by offering access. (Correspondents could have done the interviews instead, but a certain competitiveness sets in once one or two anchors agree to go.) The Post is withholding the scheduled locations for the interviews for security reasons.
Obama has been quite adept at working the media. He is on the cover of this week's Newsweek, again, after star turns on Us Weekly, "Access Hollywood" (with kids) and, not so happily, the New Yorker. And the contrast with the coverage of John McCain's campaign has been striking.
When McCain, in March, visited Britain, France and Israel and met with their leaders, no network anchors tagged along. NBC and ABC sent correspondents; CBS did not. McCain's trip to Colombia and Mexico two weeks ago was barely covered, although NBC and ABC sent correspondents.
The Obama trip was already likely to dominate the news. (We're starting to see headlines like this one in the L.A. Times: "Europe Awaits Obama with Open Arms.") With Brian, Charlie and Katie along, it's a slam dunk.
Of course, nobody watches those three network news anchors, but at least it will make the networks feel like their big salaries are somewhat justified.
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