Vice presidential candidates JD Vance and Tim Walz are set to debate this Tuesday. Ahead of the Oct. 1 event, the broadcaster announced that moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan will not fact-check either candidate — Walz and Vance will be responsible for fact-checking one another. The news prompted political scientist Norman Ornstein to lament that though CBS was once “the gold standard for television news,” both “those days and their standards are long gone.”
Ornstein isn’t the only voice objecting to CBS’ announcement, with the condemnation of their choice widespread on social media after CNN previously declined to fact-check candidates during the debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump earlier this year, followed by ABC opting to include brief fact-checks from moderators in the presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris.
According to CBS News’ editorial standards, the moderators are there to facilitate the conversation/debate between the candidates, as well as enforce the debate’s rules. However, they leave the responsibility to the candidates when it comes to fact-checking as part of the broadcast. CBS does plan to offer its own form of live fact-checking — but it will be online, rather than directly from the moderators, via its CBS News Confirmed Unit journalists in an online blog.
Slamalamadingdong!
I feel like Walz will be able to call Vance on whatever bullshit he’s peddling… but not having a neutral fact checker is a terrible idea.
Vance can spew out so much BS that Walz won’t be able to make any points of his own.
Any attempt at fact checking will not be neutral. You can fact check obvious hyperbole, you can fact check because of slight misinterpretations, you can decide NOT to fact check. As soon as you decide to do it, you open the door for bias or accusations of bias.
Reality isn’t neutral, facts are objective. If there’s something that different stances on and both be personally correct then it’s an opinion.
Yes facts are objective, but when you decide to fact check or not fact check is completely subjective. Fact checking statements out of context can be misleading in themselves, and fact checking statements that were misinterpreted by the fact checkers is also influenced by bias.
Hook each VP candidate nuts to a car battery and every time they lie hit them with the full voltage.
Simple as.
12 volts is nothing. You can bridge a car battery with your fingers and nothing happens.
It’s not a joke. Though you can feel free to keep making jokes, but seriously, think of a 9v battery and putting your tongue on it. A car battery is barely one more AA battery on top of that.
Yes, I agree. What is wrong with the quality of trolls? Their posts are so low-effort, and also reveal so much about their fragile mental state. On the plus side, it makes it easier to diagnose, block, and move on.
I’d prefer to not use the internet if people like Henry@lemmy.ca were the only posters left.
A lot of the trolls recently also have very weird histories. The accounts are often over a year old yet have no post or comment history. They just woke up within a few days ago to start trolling.
Henry here has a 3 year old account with zero activity until just 4 days ago, and every comment has been trolling.
He says she says. What a way to run a debate. Terrible idea!
This is a requirement of modern right-populist politics. They won’t play defense, so they just say crap and you’re always chasing the latest nonsense and never get to make a point.
Of course the counter to this is for Walz to make this a non-stop couch-fucking roast from minute one. I’m talking opening statement is about upholstery, fabric texture, visualize choices for lubricant and material combos. Just go all in on the furniture abuse right away.
<Walks walks onto stage and goes to shake Vance’s hand> “Hey, how was the tour of Ashely Furniture? Sorry I couldn’t join you… Did you find any attractive couches?”
