{"id":1504,"date":"2008-10-15T19:57:17","date_gmt":"2008-10-15T23:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2008-10-15T19:57:17","modified_gmt":"2008-10-15T23:57:17","slug":"the-debates-ought-to-be-free","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blacknell.net\/dynamic\/2008\/10\/15\/the-debates-ought-to-be-free\/","title":{"rendered":"The Debates Ought to Be Free"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the heels of the BS attempts at private control of public discourse, the Open Debate Coalition is calling for a number of reforms to the US presidential debate process<\/a>:<\/p>\n

(1) Make raw footage of the debates part of the public domain, so that journalists, bloggers, and citizens can access it without concerns about a major network slamming them with a copyright suit. (2) Allow citizens to vote for questions in advance using the internet, so that town halls aren’t conducted at the whim of a moderator. And (3) reform or replace the Commission on Presidential Debates, a group which declines to make information on its funders public and has not released the debate rules to which both presidential campaigns have reportedly agreed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m completely onboard with the first and third points.\u00c2\u00a0 I like the idea behind the second, but wonder whether it would be too difficult to actually implement.\u00c2\u00a0 The reasons behind my support for the first point are obvious, I hope – our political discourse should never be subject to the property claims or private control of anyone.\u00c2\u00a0 As to the third, did you know about this?<\/p>\n

This is not a commission that holds itself to iron-clad ethics rules. Anheuser-Busch has sponsored the presidential debates in every cycle since 1996 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d as a result, its hometown, St. Louis, has hosted at least one debate in all but one of the last five presidential elections. Reports the Center for Public Integrity<\/a>, “For its $550,000 contribution in 2000, the beer company was permitted to distribute pamphlets against taxes on beer at the event.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m not really opposed to Anheuser Busch passing out its flyers – but what are the chances, you think, that any other flyers were permitted?<\/p>\n

Free the presidential debates.\u00c2\u00a0 More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the heels of the BS attempts at private control of public discourse, the Open Debate Coalition is calling for a number of reforms to the US presidential debate process: (1) Make raw footage of the debates part of the public domain, so that journalists, bloggers, and citizens can access it without concerns about a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"activitypub_content_warning":"","activitypub_content_visibility":"","activitypub_max_image_attachments":4,"activitypub_interaction_policy_quote":"anyone","activitypub_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-content-distribution","category-policy","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t