• The Washington Post, Monday, January 19, 2009 9:15 AM

Barack Obama's inaugural organizing committee has sold three television networks exclusive access to inaugural events for more than $5 million. All told, Obama's licensing of inaugural events to HBO, ABC and MTV is the most ambitious and expensive in presidential history.

Network reps say inaugural committee planners "shopped" the TV rights and sought the most attractive offers. By selling the rights on an exclusive basis, the committee maximized their value.

But the arrangement is prompting criticism about the committee turning inaugural events into exclusive TV productions, rather than pooling the footage so it is available to all. News executives say the events are of historic importance and thus, newsworthy. Jeffrey Chester, head of a Washington group that promotes media-ownership diversity, call the approach "elitist."

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