The congressional public hearings in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump begin Wednesday, and experts are already debating about how bringing the process to viewers via TV and streaming platforms may impact opinion.

At the center of the inquiry is a July phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Joe Biden, a potential rival 2020 presidential candidate, and Hunter Biden’s position on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

An impeachment inquiry is a rare thing in any case, and the hearings regarding Trump and actions involving U.S. military aid to Ukraine will be, as many have already said, the first impeachment inquiry to take place in the era of the Internet, social media and the strong presence of the Fox News Channel, which features primetime hosts who are generally supportive of Trump.

Brian Stelter, CNN’s chief media correspondent and host of the weekly show, “Reliable Sources,” has been turning up in a variety of media himself, talking about how being televised raises the impeachment inquiry to a new level.

In an interview on NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” Stelter discussed bringing the hearings from behind closed doors to a television audience, and the importance of the first day of televised hearings.

Stelter cited “a couple of House leadership aides,” who told CNN, as he said, that “we know the first hour is critical. We know the first day is critical. It’s kind of like watching the first episode of a television show or listening to the first episode of a podcast. People are going to decide whether to keep tuning in. They’re going to decide whether to really be engaged in this or, you know, whether just to hear about it later or watch it on the nightly news or listen to it the next day.”

Drawing comparisons between the hearings and a TV show also drew some criticism of Stelter, with Fox News reporting on Soledad O’Brien, a former CNN anchor, who wrote on Twitter following Sunday’s “Reliable Sources” that Stelter “should be ashamed of himself” for saying, “from a television perspective, Democrats have to come out strong in that first episode.”

Stelter then responded, also on Twitter, writing: “This segment was informed by what a House leadership aide told CNN: ‘The first hour of a hearing and the first hearing has got to be a blockbuster.’ I think that person is right. If you disagree, say so!”

The debates will only intensify from here, so if you want to see for yourself what occurs in the public hearings, how’s how to watch or stream:

What: The House Intelligence Committee impeachment inquiry public hearings. The first testimony will come from William Taylor, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. and George Kent, deputy assistant secretary of state.

When: The hearings are expected to begin at 7 a.m. PT Wednesday, Nov. 13. A second day of public hearings is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 15.

TV coverage: All the major broadcast and cable news channels will be providing coverage. ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS are expected to cover the hearings live, as are CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC and C-SPAN3, C-SPAN Radio and C-SPAN.org.

Streaming coverage: CBS will provide live coverage on CBSN, the CBS News streaming news service, and CBSNews.com; the hearings will stream live on NBC News NOW, NBCNews.com and MSNBC.com.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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