Last night, the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS sought to "correct" a McCain commercial on Obama's failure to visit injured American servicemen and women at a military hospital in Germany. McCain's commercial charges that Obama could have visited the hospital but chose not to and went to a gym instead. The ad says Obama didn't go because cameras couldn't accompany him. McCain says he would have gone without the cameras.
The NewsHour didn't merely question whether the ad was accurate but specifically said it wasn't. Judy Woodruff said "It's not true." She was backed up by Brooks Jackson of Factcheck.org who, under questioning from Woodruff, seemed to agree with Woodruf that the ad wasn't accurate. Washington Post reporter Dan Balz, who also appeared on the segment, was more objective and carefully related what both campaigns have alleged.
It isn't clear which version of events, McCain's or Obama's, is accurate but the NewsHour should have been more careful about taking sides on this. More important, the NewsHour should explain why it chose to make this a part of last night's show. Woodruff said the ad has appeared on television only a few times. Given that, why was it important enough to be discussed on last night's show? Surely, there were other, more newsworthy subjects they could have explored. Surely the NewsHour wasn't taking a shot at McCain's campaign.
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