CNN's announcement for its July 30 and 31 debate stated "there will be no show of hands or one-word, down-the-line questions." To which Erik Wemple responds: "What? Even if CNN decided that it doesn’t like the theater of such questions; even if CNN decided that it doesn’t want its debates to make headlines; even if CNN decided that it didn’t want to put the candidates on the spot regarding contemporary controversies; even if CNN decided that it didn’t want good ratings; even if CNN decided that, somehow, these sorts of questions were journalistically corrupt, why would it broadcast this limitation in a public release? Why would it crimp its moderators — Dana Bash, Don Lemon and Jake Tapper — by plucking a wrench from their toolboxes?"
TOPICS: 2020 Presidential Election, CNN, Cable News