ABC News placed ads searching for soldiers' funerals taking place on the day of President George W. Bush's second inauguration to air alongside
pictures of the Washington celebrations.
Jan. 19, 2005 - For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there (sic) any military funerals for Iraq war
casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20. If you know a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the
form below:
Of course war casualties are newsworthy, but I think this is a blatent attempt by ABC to take advantage of families who are experiencing a horrible
loss to try to rain on George Bush's inauguration. The ad pointed out the funeral had to be someone lost in the war in Iraq; no need to apply if your
loved one died in Afghanistan or the tsunami humanitarian effort. After getting some publicity from bloggers and other media outlets, ABC pulled the
ad and apparently did not air any funeral coverage during the inauguration.
CNS News
The Weekly Standard
Powerline Blog
[edit on 1/22/2005 by djohnsto77]