By CONNING CHU
The UNITY News

CNN will air a commercial-free screening of the “Black in America” series, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, tonight at the UNITY ’08 Convention in place of the canceled presidential candidates’ forum, a CNN spokeswoman said.

Danette Johnson said after the presidential candidates forum fell through, CNN worked with convention organizers to plan an event for the vacated time slot and follow through on the network’s commitment.

“We just wanted to make good on it and fill a hole,” she said.

The widely-publicized forum was canceled after U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. U.S. Barack Obama, D-Ill., presumptive presidential nominees for their respective parties, did not confirm their attendance. Both senators said they had scheduling conflicts, explained UNITY Executive Director Onica Makwakwa.

Instead, Obama will give a Sunday morning speech broadcast by CNN at the UNITY convention, following his return from the Middle East.

McCain is scheduled to be at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio today.

CNN and parent company Time Warner were to sponsor and broadcast the forum.

Johnson said the network believed that the screening was a good fit to replace the political forum as it would give attendees who would otherwise miss the televised program an opportunity to view it with their peers. She said it was important to air “Black in America” in a setting where diversity was topical.

“It was ironic and coincidental,” said Johnson. “It just kind of worked.”

The screening was not confirmed until Wednesday morning, because it was still uncertain if series host O’Brien, among others, would be able to attend.

Johnson said the screening will include an introduction and question-and-answer segment with O’Brien and Angela Burt-Murray, editor in chief of Essence magazine.

The screening is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. in McCormick West room 196.

Johnson expects 300 to 400 attendees. Shuttle service has been extended until 8:30 p.m. to take viewers back to their hotels.

topic: UNITY Convention
tags: CNN, UNITY Convention

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