Media Sponsorship of the 2000 Primary Debates

Who won the primary debates of 2000? By some counts, the principal beneficiary of the thirteen Republican and nine Democratic joint appearances between October 1999 and March 2000 was the body politic. A case might also be made in favor of individual candidates, be they front-runners (Al Gore), serious challengers (John McCain), or also-rans (Alan Keyes). But the true champion of the primary debate season was neither the politicians nor the public. The winner of the debates was the news media.

All but one of the twenty-two primary debates in the 2000 series were sponsored or cosponsored by media outlets. CNN had the highest degree of involvement: twelve debates, more than twice the number it sponsored in 1996. MSNBC coproduced four debates, and Fox News, NBC, and ABC each produced one. A regional consortium made up of the Manchester (New Hampshire) Union Leader, New Hampshire Public Television, and New England Cable News sponsored three debates, and the Des Moines Register sponsored two.

Expanding a practice pioneered in the 1996 campaign, the 2000 season brought a surge in producing partnerships between national outlets and local media, particularly in such key primary and caucus states as New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina. WMUR, the ABC affiliate in Manchester, New Hampshire, joined forces with three national partners for five debates, more than any other hometown outlet. MSNBC teamed up with local NBC affiliates in Iowa, South Carolina, and Michigan. Other alliances were forged between national media, such as CNN and the Los Angeles Times or corporate relatives CNN and Time.

The sponsorship of primary debates by journalistic organizations is nothing new. As early as 1956, ABC devoted an hour of airtime to a joint appearance by Democratic rivals Adlai Stevenson and Estes Kefauver. The same network produced a spirited 1968 debate between Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy just four days before Kennedy's assassination. Each of the major commercial broadcast networks sponsored a 1972 Democratic debate. Throughout the 1980s, the PBS program Firing Line presented a series of primary coappearances with candidates from both parties. In December 1987, NBC gathered all twelve Republican and Democratic candidates for a two-part debate marathon. And so on.

Two factors distinguish the 2000 encounters from previous media-sponsored debates: increased numbers and the migration of debates to cable television. New cable channels have rapidly altered the TV landscape, intensifying competition and creating an enormous hunger for informational programming. Neither MSNBC nor Fox News existed in 1996; four years later, both got a significant boost from sponsoring and covering primary debates.

The 2000 season leaves little doubt that television networks are in the debate business more aggressively than at any time since 1960, the only year broadcasters sponsored and produced general election debates. Although Nielsen ratings for the primary debates were lower than ratings for entertainment programs, and though debates generate no revenue for their networks, news organizations reaped significant dividends from their role as stagers of the primary debates.

Debates Validate the Media as Campaign Players

The primary debates of 2000 offer further evidence that the news media in general, and cable television in particular, have become leading actors in the race for the White House. Not content to report political events, journalists also create them. The institutional power of the media more or less compels candidates to participate in press-sponsored debates. According to Tom Hannon, political director of CNN, a prime benefit of debate cosponsorship is that "you increase the leverage on getting the candidates there." ¹

Campaigns that balk can expect a backlash of negative news coverage. It is widely believed that George W. Bush made a tactical blunder in sitting out the first three Republican debates, a much-publicized abstention that displeased voters in New Hampshire. By early December, when Bush broke his pledge not to debate until after the New Year, a negative perception was firmly in place. Meanwhile, stakes for the...