Outside the Beltway

ABC News Cancels Andrew Breitbart Election Night Appearance

Doug Mataconis · Tuesday, November 2, 2010 · 4 comments

After a few days of controversy and counter-allegations, ABC News has decided not to have Andrew Breitbart on their election night coverage after all:

ABC News appears to have rescinded their previous offer to include Internet mogul and controversial opinionater Andrew Breitbart in their election night coverage. As we reported earlier, the decision to invite the the Big site proprietor and polarizing internet mogul to provide Election Day analysis for ABC News along with Big Hollywood editor Dana Loesch, made many on the left predictably uncomfortable. Turns out that it was more than just those on the left who were uncomfortable.

Late today, ABC sent Breitbart this letter:

Dear Mr. Breitbart,

We have spent the past several days trying to make clear to you your limited role as a participant in our digital town hall to be streamed on ABCNews.com and Facebook. The post on your blog last Friday created a widespread impression that you would be analyzing the election on ABC News. We made it as clear as possible as quickly as possible that you had been invited along with numerous others to participate in our digital town hall. Instead of clarifying your role, you posted a blog on Sunday evening in which you continued to claim a bigger role in our coverage. As we are still unable to agree on your role, we feel it best for you not to participate.

Sincerely,

Andrew Morse

When I first heard about this, it struck me as a strange choice by ABC News. Broadcast network election coverage remains far more stylistically (as opposed to politically) conservative than what one sees on the cable channels, and Brietbart didn’t really seem like he would fit in with other ABC analysts like George Stephanopolous and George Will.