ABC News is dedicating a whole day to saving the world.

On Friday, April 20 ABC will feature news anchors and correspondents reporting from all seven continents throughout the day culminating with a 20/20 special hosted by Diane Sawyer called Planet Earth 2007: Seven Ways to Help Save the World.

Their coverage will look at environmental issues from all corners of the globe and will more than likely end on a cheery note as they highlight some success stories of how different businesses and governments are working to create positive change. They will also give examples of what viewers can do on an individual level, and have an extensive on-line supplement at ABCnews.com.

It looks like the "save the world" theme will appear in various ABC News programs during that day like Good Morning America and Nightline, so even if viewers only tune in to a portion of the day they'll get a taste of the broad coverage. Of course the date, Friday, April 20, was probably chosen as the last weekday before Earth Day (April 22) - the perfect tie-in to the multi-continental theme. However, Fridays aren't the best day for ABC. According to the Programming Insider at MediaWeek.com for the past few weeks ABC has ranked 3rd in network ratings for Friday primetime. A special edition of 20/20 may garner additional audience as long as it isn't up against new episodes or specials running on other networks.

I'm curious to see how in-depth they are able to go in covering the most pressing environmental issues in brief 20/20 segments (and even shorter segments during the news hour), and what they decide to push as the "what YOU can do" (my prediction is on the energy focus with the suggestion to switch to CFLs and to turn down the thermostat).

While I do think that these types of issues should be covered on a more regular every day basis, it is nice to see a major network dedicate special coverage to environmental themes, and even nicer to see that they're spinning a positive approach, which is often missing in general overall news coverage.