Secret Rules Make Presidential Debates 'Arson' For Truth
Fact checking fails, fake legitimacy, and damage to how we raise children. News agencies should stop hosting.
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The first debate between President Biden and former President Trump is ostensibly going to take place June 27 -- before Trump is sentenced on 34 counts. Even if the debate goes ahead, it’s crucial to know this: These events are a disaster for truth. By having their staff serve as moderators, news organizations give these debates a false sense of journalistic legitimacy.
Today on They Stand Corrected, hear times when hosts have tried to fact check candidates during debates and why it generally doesn’t work. I discuss ways to fix this, including a wild idea. Plus, why these debates reflect a problem with the way we’re raising children in America. And a clip from Seinfeld that encapsulates the problem.
Imagine that you’re a firefighter and chosen to do what is considered the most prestigious event in your profession: Stand on a stage in a packed auditorium with cameras and millions of people watching around the world. People are invited up with kindling, logs, kerosene and matches, to set all the fires they want. And you are not allowed to do anything. You have to stand there and watch the stage burn.
That is what happens at presidential debates. They’re arson for truth.
Before we go into today’s links, two quick announcements:
I’m prepping the first “your questions answered” edition. So send in your questions and comments! Either here in the comments section below (paid subscribers) or at this form (anyone).
Welcome to listeners of Dr. Wendy After Dark on KFI iHeartRadio! Thanks to her for having me on for a terrific interview about this podcast.
Episode 9 links
Here’s the 21-page document that was leaked, an agreement full of secret rules between the Obama and Romney campaigns. Candidates also strategize knowing how the media will handle these debates. Hence, “Ron DeSantis' Leaked Debate Strategy in Full.”
I explain that when journalists have tried to fact check specific claims during debates, it has generally only created more confusion. Here’s one, involving Candy Crowley, Mitt Romney and President Obama.
John Dickerson wrote a piece for The Atlantic about being booed when he attempted to fact check Ted Cruz (another clip you hear in this episode).
Chris Wallace was praised by some in the media for having full-screens ready at a primary debate. He used two of them to show why Trump’s figures didn’t add up. But this should be a wake-up call to everyone because it reflects the problem.
If a moderator can be called a “hero” for taking a few seconds to provide the bare basics of journalism — truth — then journalism has lost its way.
News agencies like to claim that hosts can at least do part of their jobs by asking questions. Let’s make this clear: Journalism is not asking questions! Journalism is providing truth. Asking questions can sometimes be one way of making that happen — but obviously not always.
Here’s a paper I mention from the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which talks about “democratizing the debates.” It calls for journalists to sign the agreements that prevent fact checking, and notes that they are not actually serving as journalists.
There are ways to fix this. I share some options. Most importantly, news organizations should announce that because they cannot ensure that audiences will get the truth, it’s not appropriate for them to host. Acknowledge that these are spectacles, not journalism. Then, only do fact checking coverage afterward, rather than discussions of who “won” and was most convincing.
What you can do
Anytime you see a news agency carry a politician’s lies without correcting them, including during debates, feel free to copy and paste this text into an email and send it to the heads of the news agency:
While listening to/reading/watching (politician’s name) in your coverage, I noticed several lies that went uncorrected. How is this journalism? Aren’t you supposed to ensure that we, the public, only get accurate information rather than politicians’ spin? Please let me know what steps you plan to take to correct these lies that you allowed to be spewed. And please listen immediately to the podcast They Stand Corrected, which explores the systemic issues that prevent adequate fact checking.
Also, send me links! I reach out to heads of news agencies all the time. And I might fact check the reports you send me as part of the show.
Your responses are amazing. Keep them coming.
Thanks and big love,
JL