The "Meet the Press" Format
Tim Russert is hosting a series of senatorial debates on Meet the Press this Fall. Our Debates Calendar gets you access to the details (for registered users).
The fact that the moderator, Tim Russert, and his format are constants across the debates makes this series an interesting study for analysts, campaign advisors, and interested observers.
Russert uses well prepared questions and does not "pitch softballs." For example, in the Virginia debate, he brought up an article written by Webb titled "Women Can't Fight." Russert then showed video tape of Commander Kathleen Murray, who declared:
There is no question that James Webb's attitudes and philosophy were major factors behind the unnecessary abuse and hazing received by me and my fellow women midshipmen. This article was brandished repeatedly by our male
upperclassmen. They quoted it and they used it as an excuse to mistreat
us.
When Webb replied in part that "it's been 27 years" since he wrote that, Russert turned to an other article from 1997. Russert also asked pointed questions of the other candidate, George Allen, who had written about Virginia
Military Institute, "[I]f it admitted women, it wouldn't be the VMI that we've know for 154 years."
It is difficult to think of a moderator/questioner in debates who asks more direct questions and matches Russert's willingness to ask pointed follow-up questions when candidates do not answer his questions.
Content analysis of the candidates' comments from first two Senate debates on Meet the Press shows that acclaims (self-praise) are more common than attacks (criticism of opponent) or defenses (responses to attacks). Pennsylvania: 38% acclaims, 36% attacks, 25% defenses. Virginia: 46% acclaims, 17% attacks, 37% defenses.
Russert's confrontational style likely encourages more defenses than would be found in most debates. A study of 15 US Senate debates from 1998-2004 (Benoit, Brazeal, & Airne, 2006) found that in those debates, 61% of statements were acclaims, 29% attacks, 10% defenses.
Content analysis can also examine the topics of debates. In these debates, candidates discussed policy (issues) more than character (image). In Pennsylvania, 76% policy and 24% character; in Virginia, 67% policy and 33% character.
The study of Senate debates 1998-2004 found a 70%/30% split, also favoring policy over character. Given the importance of and interest in the war in Iraq (and the war on terrorism), Russert asked all four candidates several questions on this topic.
William Benoit, Professor of Communication, University of Missouri
