Fact checks are such stupid things
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On the role of debate moderators:
The head of the Commission on Presidential Debates agreed Sunday. Speaking on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Janet Brown said that it’s not the moderator’s job to factcheck. “What is a big fact, what is a little fact?” she said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to get the moderator into essentially serving as the Encyclopedia Britannica.”
The author of Gradient Lair (among other things) Tweeted about this with the line “Post-fact society.” I suppose if I wanted to be optimistic I’d say “Fact optional society,” is another way of looking at it. However it isn’t much of an improvement and no one likes an WellActuallizer, so why bother?
At any rate, since the debate moderator’s role is asking questions and making sure no one exceeds his/her time limit, I think networks can save millions if they get rid of the moderator and give the debaters the questions. Time limits can be controlled by the sound tech who will switch off mics. Better yet, the network controlling the feed can just go to commercial.
Some background on the debate moderator as fact checker debate:
Hours after the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times published separate stories outlining the lies Donald Trump has told during his presidential campaign, Trump’s campaign spokesperson told ABC’s “This Week” that it isn’t the media’s job to factcheck the presidential debate.
“I really don’t appreciate the campaigns thinking it is the job of the media to go and be these virtual fact-checkers,” Kellyanne Conway said, in an apparent attempted jab at the Clinton campaign. She also opposed debate moderators questioning the candidates’ truthfulness in any way.
It was funny yesterday.
