While watching the Barbara Walters special on Sunday night prior to the Oscars, I was treated to the "spectacle" of Walters interviewing Shrek. Sure, it was cute and it was cheesy (She was, after all, "interviewing" a large green cartoon character who enjoys fried rats), but I also found it profoundly disturbing. Given that ABC and Disney are owned by the same company- Capital Cities Communications- it was hard to miss what clearly was a cross-promotional opportunity. Here was Barbara Walter, who gets her check from Cap Cities, interviewing Shrek, a Cap Cities property. The fact that Shrek 2 is about to hit theaters was no doubt no mere coincidence.
Walters: "Complete this sentence for me- 'Shrek is....'"
Shrek: "Opening May 21st"
Gee? Couldja be any less subtle?? I sincerely doubt it.
So Barbara Walters, who has spent many years cultivating her image as a "serious journalist", has been reduced to shilling for movies produced by her employers? The fact that this was passed off as a journalistic endeavor, instead of the extended commercial that it was, is both unconscionable and unethical. The truly sad thing about this episode is that is no longer anything particularly unusual or noteworthy. With more and more media outlets being collected by conglomerates like Clear Channel Communications, journalists are facing increasing pressure to double as salespeople in the never-ending search for profits. How many ESPN personalities have you seen in various commercials? Exactly my point....
The question, of course, is whether being involved in commercial endeavors does damage to a journalist's credibility. I would submit that it does. If a reporter is also endorsing a product, how can we assume that he or she would be objective when doing a story about his benefactor? We cannot. It just simply strains the bounds of credulity to think that being a paid spokesman for a product and journalistic objectivity walk hand-in-hand.
No one should kid themselves any longer into believing that Barbara Walters is a "serious journalist"- if in fact she ever was. All I would hope for- and indeed, expect- is that if ABC or anyone else is going to subject us to a commercial in the midst of what is being passed of as a "news program", that they label it as such. At least let us know when you've crossed the line into torpedoing your own credibility.
