Politics: Anchors Gone Wild

Today’s Primary Day here in New York City.
Which reminds me: news anchors have to work pretty hard to get me to be solidly on the side of politicians. But some recent, bad examples have me wondering about the role of the campaign debate moderator.
Dominic Carter, acting like a cross between a bully and a clown, yelled at the candidates for not providing one-word answers to his questions. Diana Williams said sadly, at the end of a debate between the hopefuls for public advocate, “we’ve learned a little bit about your differences”—and she put the emphasis on “little.”I watched the New York 1 debates (Carter was the anchor) for district attorney and public advocate, then the Eyewitness News offering (Williams) for would-be public advocates. And I was left wondering: when did it become okay for TV reporters to yell at candidates about their answers?
Raising his voice repeatedly, Carter really went after city councilman and possible public advocate Bill de Blasio. Carter said de Blasio, who refused to answer a hypothetical question about endorsing Gov. David Paterson in the 2010 gubernatorial campaign, was the first person ever to refuse to answer one of those patented yes-or-no questions. That should be a badge of honor for de Blasio. For her part, Williams was visibly disturbed that the candidates were not doing a better job of outlining their differences. She wanted a Sunday morning catfight, evidently, and it was not happening.
I think there is a fine line between pressing candidates to answer questions and accepting that the guests on the stage are ultimately responsible for their own words. When reporters start harassing politicians for their answers or the tone of the campaign, the line gets crossed. It did in both of the debates I saw, where Carter and Williams were unwilling to accept their role: to put the questions and issues out there. Beyond that, I think it’s up to the candidates to do pretty much what they will with those questions and issues.
With Carter and Williams (especially Carter, who acts like he thinks he’s some sort of reincarnated Tim Russert), the debate anchors acted as though they were the stars of the show. Ironically, they were whining instead of shining.