fossten
Dedicated LVC Member
Just a heads-up for those of you who watch the debate. The moderator is in the tank for Obama. So watch for the bias.
Defining “moderator”
posted at 7:51 am on October 1, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Perhaps the Commission on Presidential Debates doesn’t understand the term “moderator”. According to Websters Dictionary, the word refers to a mediator, someone unaffiliated or neutral between two or more positions to facilitate discussion and negotiation. Jim Lehrer moderated the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, and did a fine job, mostly because he gave the appearance of fairness and objectivity. Lehrer hasn’t written books or magazine articles praising one of these men, nor does he have a financial interest in the outcome of the election.
Instead, as Michelle Malkin notes, the CPD has chosen Gwen Ifill, the PBS host and author of an upcoming book on Barack Obama scheduled for publication on Inauguration Day, to moderate the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden:
The title of Ifill’s book? “Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” Nonpartisan my foot.
Ifill’s publisher, Random House, is already busy hyping the book with YouTube clips of Ifill heaping praise on her subjects, including Obama and Obama-endorsing Mass. Governor Deval Patrick.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that Ifill doesn’t show any particular bias in this book towards Obama, even though Michelle documents both an Essence flack job and complaints about her coverage of the Republican convention that make her bias clear. Instead, let’s just focus on the financial interest Ifill has in an Obama victory in five weeks. If Obama loses, how will her book sell? Not nearly as well as if Obama wins, and everyone knows that.
Moderators should not have a financial stake in the election. That should be exceedingly obvious, and is to most people outside of the mainstream media and the Commission. Her pending book publication should alone disqualify her to moderate any of the debates this cycle. If Ifill had any sense of journalistic ethics, she would have turned them down herself.
Of course, the CPD could make this a habit. Let’s have Brent Bozell and Glenn Beck moderate the final two presidential debates. After all, that fits perfectly in the new Ifill tradition.
Defining “moderator”
posted at 7:51 am on October 1, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Perhaps the Commission on Presidential Debates doesn’t understand the term “moderator”. According to Websters Dictionary, the word refers to a mediator, someone unaffiliated or neutral between two or more positions to facilitate discussion and negotiation. Jim Lehrer moderated the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain, and did a fine job, mostly because he gave the appearance of fairness and objectivity. Lehrer hasn’t written books or magazine articles praising one of these men, nor does he have a financial interest in the outcome of the election.
Instead, as Michelle Malkin notes, the CPD has chosen Gwen Ifill, the PBS host and author of an upcoming book on Barack Obama scheduled for publication on Inauguration Day, to moderate the debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden:
The title of Ifill’s book? “Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” Nonpartisan my foot.
Ifill’s publisher, Random House, is already busy hyping the book with YouTube clips of Ifill heaping praise on her subjects, including Obama and Obama-endorsing Mass. Governor Deval Patrick.
Let’s say for the sake of argument that Ifill doesn’t show any particular bias in this book towards Obama, even though Michelle documents both an Essence flack job and complaints about her coverage of the Republican convention that make her bias clear. Instead, let’s just focus on the financial interest Ifill has in an Obama victory in five weeks. If Obama loses, how will her book sell? Not nearly as well as if Obama wins, and everyone knows that.
Moderators should not have a financial stake in the election. That should be exceedingly obvious, and is to most people outside of the mainstream media and the Commission. Her pending book publication should alone disqualify her to moderate any of the debates this cycle. If Ifill had any sense of journalistic ethics, she would have turned them down herself.
Of course, the CPD could make this a habit. Let’s have Brent Bozell and Glenn Beck moderate the final two presidential debates. After all, that fits perfectly in the new Ifill tradition.
great minds foss....)
