The insistence of the establishment media for a series of debates before the presidential election in the fall stems from their desire for sensational spectacles and politically charged confrontations. This push highlights the media’s active role in shaping the news narrative, often to the detriment of the public interest.
In the past, journalists served as impartial observers and reporters of events, acting as the eyes and ears of the citizenry. However, the modern media landscape is dominated by a self-promoting establishment that seeks to manufacture and manipulate storylines, which they then present as ‘news.’ This tendency is exemplified by the recent demand from a group of major news outlets, including ABC, CBS, the Associated Press, NewsNation, NBC, NPR, and Fox News, for presumptive presidential nominees Joe Biden and Donald Trump to commit to televised debates.
It is noteworthy that this demand excludes third-party candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein, who may possess unique perspectives that would not be heard in a Biden-Trump exchange. However, these candidates are disregarded by the Commission on Presidential Debates, which arbitrarily restricts the rhetorical space.
The media’s justification for these debates is couched in sanctimonious rhetoric about their ‘rich tradition’ in American democracy and their ability to foster a ‘competition of ideas.’ However, the reality is that televised presidential debates are not genuine debates but rather dueling press conferences in which the media panelists actively participate.
The journalist moderators, often lacking the requisite skills, fail to effectively manage these events, as evidenced by the performances of Chris Wallace in 2016 and Kristen Welker in 2020. The debate formats, tailored to a television audience with a short attention span, severely limit candidates’ ability to provide nuanced explanations of complex issues such as the economy, border security, and international tensions.
Despite these shortcomings, the media establishment relishes the sound-bite atmosphere of these phony debates, which generate high ratings and clicks. Television is a medium that thrives on emotion, making it difficult to convey rational thinking through this format.
Moreover, Biden-Trump debates would hardly be enlightening, as Americans are already well-acquainted with both candidates. If such debates were to occur, they would likely devolve into a series of consultant-driven cheap shots, fabrications, angry rhetoric, and incoherence, hardly the ‘competition of ideas’ that the media claims to champion.
Such a chaotic display would only further demoralize an already disillusioned electorate that craves sanity in the political process. History provides little evidence that televised presidential debates have ever swayed an election. While the 1976 Carter-Ford debate may have contributed to Jimmy Carter’s victory, that outcome was arguably not a positive one.
In fact, debates are so inconsequential in the larger electoral picture that Trump skipped all the Republican primary debates this year and still cruised to his party’s nomination. Similarly, Biden was generally considered the weakest performer on the stage (with the possible exception of Kamala Harris) in the 2020 Democrat primary debates, yet he easily secured his party’s nomination.
A recent article in the Columbia Journalism Review expressed concern that if debates are not held this election year, the practice may never return. This fear is unfounded. The problems with debates today lie in their format and vacuous nature, not in the candidates themselves.
A pause from presidential debating would provide an opportunity to rethink the process and make it more meaningful. With Biden and Trump out of the picture for the 2028 election, new party nominees would likely embrace the chance to participate in a revamped debate format.
Presidential politics has been reduced to social media outbursts, campaign stunts, and meaningless horserace polls. Debates have become part of this sad rhetorical exercise. If Biden and Trump do decide to meet on a debate stage, it should be on their own terms, not because of the media’s insistence.
