Business
ABC will face a major challenge during the upcoming Presidential Debate
ABC News is under a microscope as its journalists prepare to host one of the most scrutinized moments of the 2024 campaign.
Updated 2024-Oct-03 00:00
David Muir and Linsey Davis sit onstage behind a desk with an audience behind them.
Harris’s team also has issues with ABC. They requested that the network alter a rule originally asked for by the Biden campaign which would mute the candidates microphones when the other is talking.
Trump s team disagreed but the muting policy remains in place despite the Harris campaign arguing that it has put the vice president at a disadvantage.
Klein John Santucci and Marc Burstein will oversee Tuesday s debate the network s executive editorial producer and ABC s veteran producer of significant political events.
ABC News s recently appointed president Almin Karamehmedovic as well as Debra O Connell the president of Disney s news group and networks who formerly oversaw TV business operations for Disney Entertainment are also part of the team.
During an interview OConnell mentioned that she had assisted with televised debates for state and local elections on ABC s regional channels.
Tens of millions of Americans will tune in live on Tuesday to see how Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald J.Trump handle their first head to head encounter on the debate stage. That mass audience will also scrutinize the performance of ABC News.
As the sponsor and host of a general election debate ABC is in charge of nearly every aspect of the presentation from the camera angles that viewers see at home to the ability of the moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis to keep the proceedings on track.
TV networks prefer to recede into the background on a debate night. But ABC has already found itself at the center of crisscrossing accusations from both campaigns.
Ms. Harris’s aides have complained that some ground rules disadvantage the vice president. Mr. Trump meanwhile has assailed the network in increasingly belligerent ways deeming ABC the worst and the nastiest.
Leaders at ABC News who were gathering at the debate site in Philadelphia on Saturday say they have shrugged off the noise noting that both campaigns ultimately agreed to participate.
I don’t think anything that is said about us or about the debate changes our role or our mission Rick Klein the network’s political director said in an interview.
Our job is to meet the moment and it’s a huge moment and a humbling moment. Nothing that’s said about us or anyone else matters once the light goes on and the cameras are rolling.
Still the network which recently endured a tumultuous leadership change is aware that Tuesday night is a moment of both opportunity and peril.
Until about 10 weeks ago some pundits argued that presidential debates ultimately did not matter. For all the buildup and scrutiny of the events they have often left the fundamental dynamics of campaigns unchanged.
Then on June 27 President Biden shuffled onto a CNN stage in Atlanta. Mr. Biden’s shaky performance unfolded live in front of 51 million viewers putting his mental fitness at the forefront of the national conversation.
Three weeks later he dropped out of the race. That evening’s moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper won praise for their even keeled style though some Democrats asked why they did not try to fact check Mr.Trump’s falsehoods in real time.
In response to the critical comments directed at her network she expressed confidence in her team of moderators.
ABC producers were finalizing the set at National Constitution Center in Philadelphia over the weekend as Mr.Davis traveled to the city for preparation meetings. Klein the political director for ABC mentioned that despite all the discussion he had managed to find a unique way to acknowledge the importance of the event.
During a virtual coin toss with the campaigns to decide on lectern placement and the closing statements order Mr.Klein used a commemorative coin he had bought as a child while visiting Independence Hall in Philadelphia to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.
The debate on Tuesday will take place within a three block radius. In addition to other factors the anchors should be ready for potential attacks from Mr.Trump against them and their network.
