Traditional Television Programs Simulate Real News Events
On November 7, 2005, NBC broadcasted an episode of “The West Wing” that portrayed a live debate between two fictional candidates for the U.S. Presidency. The candidates, Senator Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda) and Congressman Matt Santos (Jimmy Smits), debated in front of a live audience at a debate moderated by NBC News personality Forrest Sawyer, who played himself. During the fictional debate, NBC used the NBC News / MSNBC News peacock symbol in the lower right-hand corner of the screen to simulate a real presidential debate. Some critics have mentioned that the use of NBC News personalities and symbols in a fictional episode might dilute the quality and brand of NBC News. Zogby International ran a survey of viewers of the “West Wing” episode and found that twice as many viewers preferred watching the simulated television debate to a real presidential debate.
In a similar example, ESPN’s “SportsCenter” broadcasted a simulated Boston Red Sox news conference, and it plans to continue its simulated news conferences with other Major League Baseball teams, such as the New York Yankees.
Bauder, David. “Lines between News, Entertainment Blurring.” Associated Press Newswires. 7 November 2005.
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