Washington Post columnist Tom Shales has written an editorial entitled, "In Pa. Debate, The Clear Loser is ABC." The editorial states, "For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with." "Gibson sat there peering down at the candidates over glasses perched on the end of his nose, looking prosecutorial and at times portraying himself as a spokesman for the working class. Blunderingly he addressed an early question, about whether each would be willing to serve as the other's running mate, 'to both of you,' which is simple ineptitude or bad manners. It was his job to indicate which candidate should answer first. When, understandably, both waited politely for the other to talk, Gibson said snidely, 'Don't all speak at once.'"
Read the Editorial!!
Discussion Starters for Younger Children
Ask students to list their favorite television stations. As a class, how many different stations can students list? How would they feel if there were only three, four or five stations that they could watch? Why would they feel this
If students could say one thing on television what would they say? Why would they say this?
Challenge students to pretend that they were the head of their town. What one thing would they do to make their town a better place to live? Why would they do this?
Do students think it is nice to use people's names when they talk to them? Why/why not? Should the teacher call on students by their names? Why/why not?
Discussion Starters for Older Students
Vocabulary terms to discuss: Despicable; Specious; Tripe; and, Pompously.
What is the purpose of holding a political debate? What issues do students think are most important to the upcoming presidential elections? Why do students think that these issues are important?
Ask students if they think that political debates influence election results? Why/why not? How many debates do students think that candidates should participate in? Why this number?
Ask students to explain the power possessed by NBC's director. What can we learn about news in general, from this article?