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Moderators Hold the Center of Debate Stage

Steve Redisch

   WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump andformer Vice President Joe Biden
   are spending time honing their skills ahead oftheir first debate on
   Sept.29at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

   Alsobusy preparing is Chris Wallace, host of"FoxNews Sunday."He will be
   the moderator, selected by[1]The Commission on Presidential Debates, a
   nonprofit, nonpartisanorganization that has sponsored the debates since
   1987.It is Wallace's second time as a presidential debate moderator.

   Jim Lehrerholds the record for moderating 12 presidential
   debates.In1996 and 2000, the lateanchor of the "[2]PBS NewsHour"
   moderated all threedebates.

   "Some of the tips that Jim Lehrer had,for example,if somebody
   says,'I've got a seven-point plan for that.'He would
   say,'Well,givemeyour first three points," said Mary Kate Cary, a senior
   fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center, where she saw
   Lehrer lead a workshop on moderating debates.

   Carysaid Lehrer explained that "if you ask a long and complicated
   question, you will get a long and complicated answer."

   Some experts believe amoderator's job goes beyond asking questions.

   "I think the most important job of the moderator is follow-up.When they
   give an answer,or if there is a debate occurring,to know the
   appropriate questions to ask in the follow-up,"saidJohn Koch, [3]debate
   director atVanderbilt University.

   According to Cary,Lehrer would prepareby trying to"know everything that
   you possibly can about the people who are debating and all their
   positionsso thatif someone says something about a certain policy, you
   know immediately whether they're making news,and you can react and
   say,'Oh,you've never said that before,'and sort of point that out to
   the audience."

   Factvs.fiction

   The role of the moderator as a fact-checker is"quite
   controversial,"according to JenniferMercieca,associateprofessor
   ofcommunications,at Texas A&M University.

   "In 2012, there was a huge controversy with(moderator)Candy Crowley.
   She fact-checked(presidential candidate Mitt)Romney during the
   debate.It had sort of been a tense back and forth between the two
   candidates, and she intervened to try to sort of move along the
   conversation.There was a huge outcry on the right for her doing
   that,"Mercieca said.

   Fact-checking should be the candidates' job, according toKoch.

   "If Biden says something that's not true, Trump should say something.
   If Trump says something that's not true, Biden should say something.I
   don't necessarily think that's a job/role of the moderator during the
   90 minutes of debate."hesaid.

   When met withan untruestatement from a candidate,Lehrer thought "the
   moderatorshould pause and say,'I'd like to give you an opportunity to
   clarify what you just said.'Or turn to the opponent and say,'Would you
   like to react to what he just said?'"according toCary, whorecalled
   Lehrer saying there is "the danger of appearing as a partisan" if he
   acted as a fact-checker.

   2020moderators

   While Wallacemoderated apresidentialdebate in the 2016 election cycle,
   the other2020moderators are all doing it for the first time.

   Steve Scullyof C-SPANmoderates the second presidential debateOct.15. It
   will be held in Miami andis a town hall format. Undecided voterswill
   askthe candidatesquestions. Scully was the backup moderator
   forallthe2016debates.

   Kristen Welker, who covers the White House for NBC News,moderates the
   third presidential debateOct.22in Nashville, Tennessee.

   There will be one vice-presidential debate--Oct.7in Salt Lake City,
   Utah.Susan Page,Washington bureau chief forUSA Today, will be the
   moderator.

   "I think this is a good group of well-respected journalists," said
   Cary. She recalls the best advice from Lehrer.

   "The quote that I always think is,'If anybody is quoting me, the
   moderator, afterwards, I have failed,"she said.

References

   1. https://www.debates.org/
   2. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/remembering-jim-lehrer
   3. https://as.vanderbilt.edu/communication/debate/

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