Who Lost the Debate? Moderators, Many Say

Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, the moderators of Wednesday night’s presidential debate on ABC, became the subject of a fierce and somewhat unexpected debate themselves on Thursday, as viewers, bloggers and television critics lamented what they described as an opportunity lost: a chance to ask the two candidates for the Democratic nomination substantive questions early and often. The media post-mortem — which boiled over in more than 17,600 comments posted on the ABC Web site alone — also touched on questions that had long been simmering in the protracted Democratic campaign over the role of moderators in televised debates, to say nothing of political journalists generally. If there was a common theme, it was that Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos had front-loaded the debate with questions that many viewers said they considered irrelevant when measured against the faltering economy or the Iraq war.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/us/politics/18moderator.html?ref=todayspaper
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ABC's Debate Debacle
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3347

Performance By ABC's Moderators Is a Matter Of Debate
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/17/AR2008041704303.html

Democratic debate sparks viewers' own angry debate
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-na-campaign18apr18,1,7830154.story

Poll debate brings brickbats for US network
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/e62749ca-0ccf-11dd-86df-0000779fd2ac.html