Gwen Ifill Not Worried About Accusations of Debate Bias

Join us tonight right here during the vice presidential debate for our live blogging and then follow us over to the Black Womens' Roundtable over on Blogtalkradio.com/blackwomen. We always have an entertaining post-event podcast. To participate in the show, you can call 646-478-4750. We are simply the best post-debate analysis out there :) or so I'm told. Either way, you can wait anxiously to guess which guest will be muted first. Last week we were over at talkshoe, this week we're back in our normal slot on BTR. Oh yeah, I am running the boards tonight so I will be in control of the mute button!! Who will be sent to the podcast corna'?? Gwen Ifill Moderator Drama Okay and now for the latest in the Gwen Ifill melodrama. If you don't know, Gwen Ifill is moderating tomorrow night's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. She also has a book coming out which covers Barak Obama among others. The book is available for sale on Amazon.

A few weeks ago, there was a story (a rather silly story, actually) about whether African-American journalists could cover Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and maintain their impartiality. Now there’s a growing stink (from some conservatives) about whether PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, who’s black, can moderate Thursday’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin because Ifill has a book coming out on Obama.

The book, which will be available on Inauguration Day, is titled, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." The publisher says “veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama's stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.” Chicago Tribune

And from Sandra Rose:

Gwen Ifill is confident that Mr. Obama has the election in the bag. But should the moderator of such an important debate show such blatant bias towards one party? Couldn’t she wait until after the debate to announce this book of hers? Apparently, Ifill doesn’t care if we know she’s biased. She has faced criticism before for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.Sandra Rose

Well Gwen has responded to the furor

"I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation," Ifill said. "The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."Associated Press

My prediction, no matter what she does tomorrow, the fact that the story is now about this book instead of the fact that she is the only woman and only person of color who has been selected to moderate a debate has already done damage. I mean with titles like this ,Is VP Debate Moderator Gwen Ifill In The Tank For Obama?, people will be focussed on whether or not she is biased vs. whether or not she is doing her job. Heads, Gwen Loses. Tails, Gwen loses. But in any case, the moderator of the debate is unlikely to have any affect on the outcome of the election and the good news, now everybody knows Gwen has a book coming out. Controversy is good for book sales.

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