The U.S. television networks planning live coverage of the presidential debates said on Wednesday they would disregard ground rules set by the two campaigns to control camera shots of the candidates.
And the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which is not a party to the agreement, said it could not be expected to enforce strictures on network coverage of the four debates.
At issue are rules that bar the networks from airing "cutaway" shots of either Republican President Bush or Democratic challenger John Kerry while they are waiting their turn to speak during the debates.
If this restriction had been enforced in the past, it would have censored the heavy sighs and disapproving expressions of Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 debates or the shot of Bush's father glancing at his watch during a 1992 debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.
The rules, signed by the managers of the two campaigns, also prohibit the cameras from panning to members of the audience during the question-and-answer periods.
...In addition, all four broadcast journalists chosen as moderators for the debates -- Charles Gibson of ABC and Bob Schieffer of CBS, and Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service -- have refused to sign the 32-page agreement governing conduct of the events.
"That's an agreement between the candidates. It's not an agreement between the moderators, who are independent journalists," said Frank Fahrenkopf, Republican co-chairman of the debate commission.
He also said the commission has declined to sign the document on grounds that doing so would jeopardize the tax-exempt, nonpartisan status that allows his group to sponsor the debates.
Reuters articleAnd the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which is not a party to the agreement, said it could not be expected to enforce strictures on network coverage of the four debates.
At issue are rules that bar the networks from airing "cutaway" shots of either Republican President Bush or Democratic challenger John Kerry while they are waiting their turn to speak during the debates.
If this restriction had been enforced in the past, it would have censored the heavy sighs and disapproving expressions of Vice President Al Gore during the 2000 debates or the shot of Bush's father glancing at his watch during a 1992 debate with Bill Clinton and Ross Perot.
The rules, signed by the managers of the two campaigns, also prohibit the cameras from panning to members of the audience during the question-and-answer periods.
...In addition, all four broadcast journalists chosen as moderators for the debates -- Charles Gibson of ABC and Bob Schieffer of CBS, and Jim Lehrer and Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service -- have refused to sign the 32-page agreement governing conduct of the events.
"That's an agreement between the candidates. It's not an agreement between the moderators, who are independent journalists," said Frank Fahrenkopf, Republican co-chairman of the debate commission.
He also said the commission has declined to sign the document on grounds that doing so would jeopardize the tax-exempt, nonpartisan status that allows his group to sponsor the debates.
I guess they'll just have to stand at attention, pay attention, and not pick their noses. It'll be tough for one of them at least.
Photo courtesy Maru
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