debates

Debates Not Public-Friendly

Stevie Converse — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:47:00 -0400

Full article: Michigan Youth Political Alliance
Public demands concerning the debate process is shifting. Americans are moving off the limiting, archaic TV model and are embracing open and free Internet mediums for communication. They want more control over the format of the debate, the questions that are being asked and the ways it will be viewed by them.

Open Debates: Linking Copyright and the New Public Media

Stevie Converse — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 07:47:47 -0400

Full article: Center for Social Media
Jessica Clark
A bipartisan coalition of newsmakers, media critics and bloggers are demanding permanent change to make the debates more "of the people." The coalition's demands reveal the new conditions for making public media—the process is no longer about the media; it's about the public.

Norquist Joins Debate Coalition

Stevie Converse — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:15:12 -0400

Full article: Politico
Ben Smith
Conservative activist Grover Norquist joined a bi-partisan group of online activists pushing to liberate debate footage from copyright restriction, and more broadly to remold presidential debates for a new age. The Open Debate Coalition says it will involve itself in other debates in the off-years, and gear up for 2012.

TV Station Blurs Line by Editing Candidate's Gaffe

Stevie Converse — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:11:43 -0400

Full article: Morning Call
Darryl R. Isherwood
A local television station took the extraordinary step of censoring a congressional debate because a candidate wrongly said Sovereign and Wachovia banks had folded. A media ethics expert said the station was right to do something, but they did the wrong thing.

Free the Debates

Stevie Converse — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:45:01 -0400

Full article: Mother Jones
A group of thinkers and activists from the left, right, and center want to see the presidential debates and the commission that organizes them fundamentally reformed.

Bob Scheiffer Wants to Unmoderate Last Debate

Stevie Converse — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:23:18 -0400

Full article: Jossip
CBS anchor Bob Scheiffer is hoping for a "freewheeling" debate that he will interfere as moderator as little as possible. That sounds like a naively dangerous way to look at the control you exert over the final time the candidates face off for the American public.

Down with the Dial

Stevie Converse — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:03:57 -0400

Full article: Columbia Journalism Review
Katia Bachko
As it is, voters have a snowball's chance in hell of forming their opinions based on the words and deeds of the candidates alone, given the barrage of opinion-posing-as-news to which they're subjected. The Perception Analyzer dial-group polls during the debates are just one more example of these opinion injections.

Rather: Fear Shouldn't Be in a Journalist's DNA

Stevie Converse — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:59:00 -0400

Full article: Portfolio
Jeff Bercovici
At Time Warner's Politics 2008 Summit, former CBS anchor Dan Rather complained about the creeping timidity he sees in journalism -- and discussed how it's affecting the events we are calling presidential debates.

Left, Right Link Up for Openness in Debates

Stevie Converse — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:41:04 -0400

Full article: Internet News
Andy Patrizio
What could possibly make MoveOn.org and a group headed by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich come together for a common cause? The answer: A desire to break the media's hegemony over the presidential debate process and democratize the questioning of the candidates.

Bull Disclosure

Stevie Converse — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:36:00 -0400

Full article: Boston Phoenix
Adam Reilly
As the candidates prep for the final debate, it's a fitting time to ask: Why do some journalistic conflicts of interest become scandals, while others get almost no attention at all?