Vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz are set to debate this Tuesday. Ahead of the Oct. 1 event, the broadcaster announced that moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will not fact-check either candidate — Walz and Vance will be responsible for fact-checking one another. The news prompted political scientist Norman Ornstein to lament that though CBS was once “the gold standard for television news,” both “those days and their standards are long gone.”
Ornstein isn’t the only voice objecting to CBS’ announcement, with the condemnation of their choice widespread on social media after CNN previously declined to fact-check candidates during the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump earlier this year, followed by ABC opting to include brief fact-checks from moderators in the presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris.
According to CBS News’ editorial standards, the moderators are there to facilitate the conversation/debate between the candidates, as well as enforce the debate’s rules. However, they leave the responsibility to the candidates when it comes to fact-checking as part of the broadcast. CBS does plan to offer its own form of live fact-checking — but it will be online, rather than directly from the moderators, via its CBS News Confirmed Unit journalists in an online blog.
So the attention of the viewer is divided or they don’t even know that there is an online live fact check.
Sounds more than fishy
I vote for big true/false gauge behind them both. The needle swings as the speaker speaks. Maybe a flashing red light for insane lies and green for absolute truth.
But they would need real fact checkers voting on the truthfulness in real time to make it work.
This is actually a great compromise if they don’t wanna fact check em on air. Have the meter and the link on screen if anyone wants to go online to read the fact check.
I’d prefer it actually visible to the candidates.
They need to know that we know.
Lul would be amazing. I would love to see their reaction as the meter in front of them goes ham.
“Uh, well, I, uh … the question is-is vague. You don’t say what kind of couch, whether anyone is watching or, uh… At any rate, I certainly wouldn’t fuck the couch!”
The best thing about this joke is how protesting will make him sound so much more guilty of it.