DIANE SAWYER - SAWYER'S "GET" DOWNPLAYED BY RIVALS

Diane Sawyer has scored an interview with the ex-wife of former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who resigned in 2004 after admitting that he had been having an affair with a male staffer. The interview with Dina Matos McGreevey is scheduled to air on May 2 and 3 on Good Morning America, a date that coincides with the publication of McGreevey's book, Silent Partner. Although ABC trumpeted the interview as a big "get" for Sawyer, it was pooh-poohed by her rivals. Jim Bell, executive producer of NBC's Today show told the Philadelphia Inquirer: "I don't think we were even interested in it." And Steve Friedman, executive producer of CBS This Morning, commented, "I don't consider her to be the story now." However ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider told the Inquirer. "Those guys should check with their bookers, who were making every conceivable effort to interview Dina. ... Perhaps the heads of those shows don't know what their own troops are doing."

29/03/2007