A brilliant, hilarious, exhilarating look at the Gore Vidal v. William F. Buckley paradigm-busting 1968 debates that changed TV journalism for the worse. I’m “biast” (pro): Gore Vidal is one of my heroes
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
This is how much the world has changed (or at least how much America has changed): In 1968, the lowest-rated TV network, ABC, decided to come up with a stunt that would boost ratings of their coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, in the run-up to that autumn’s Presidential election. And what they came up with was this: They gave two of the nation’s most prominent public intellectuals, Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., ten nights of juicy evening airtime to debate the election and the state of the nation. And it worked: ABC’s ratings soared.
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
This is how much the world has changed (or at least how much America has changed): In 1968, the lowest-rated TV network, ABC, decided to come up with a stunt that would boost ratings of their coverage of the Democratic and Republican national conventions, in the run-up to that autumn’s Presidential election. And what they came up with was this: They gave two of the nation’s most prominent public intellectuals, Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., ten nights of juicy evening airtime to debate the election and the state of the nation. And it worked: ABC’s ratings soared.
- 7/24/2015
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
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