Participants and viewers of the GOP Debate hosted by CNBC were visibly dissatisfied with the network and its moderators.
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I didn’t watch CNBC’s GOP Debate as it aired; instead I opted to watch it in five parts on YouTube at midnight.
But in the four hours between the debate’s 8pm EST airing time and when I watched in on my phone, I perused Twitter marveling at the complaints by viewers who thought the CNBC moderators didn’t have the capacity to control the personalities on stage nor make substantive inquiries of the candidates and their policy positions.
As a journalist, I’ve come to expect criticisms of media; I’ve heard all the complaints there is to be made about the Fourth Estate, and I’ve also contributed to the complaining myself because I think African-Americans are over-represented in news stories about crime and violence.
But even I was shocked at the sheer quantity of tweets—and later, articles from pundits/reporters and remarks from candidates—that expressed frustration and, in some cases, disgust at the product CNBC put before a national audience. The questions, perceived as mean-spirited and intended to create a “gotcha moment,” asked by the moderators were clearly what fueled the consumer and participant outrage.
“The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don’t trust the media,” said Mr. Ted Cruz, a Texas Senator, to which the audience responded with agreement.
Irritated that CNBC’s Mr. John Harwood would ask Mr. Donald Trump if he was running a “comic book campaign,” Mr. Joe Scarborough, host of ‘Morning Joe’ on MSNBC, said of the debate:
“It was just a terrible debate, one of the worst.”
And even the chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mr. Reince Priebus, made a public statement not favorable of the network or its presentation of the debate.
“CNBC should be ashamed of how this debate was handled,” tweeted Mr. Preibus, who, according to a Fox News report, said the forum did a “disservice to their network, our candidates, and voters.”
A NBC spokesperson released a statement saying:
“People who want to be president of the United States should be able to answer tough questions.”
It could be argued that some of the questions—though they weren’t popular with the audience—were worth asking. Like, for example, the one posed to Dr. Ben Carson from Mr. Carl Quintanilla about a controversial multi-level marketing company called Mannatech, which Dr. Carson is believed to have an affiliation with.
Dr. Carson responded to the inquiry saying the whole narrative was propaganda. When asked why he was prominently featured on their website, Dr. Carson said he had no control over what people do. As Mr. Quintanilla prepared to probe further, the audience booed him, resulting in that question, which was viewed as unfair, going un-asked.
But as it turns out, Mr. Carson does have a meaningful relationship with the company, reported Slate.com, who characterized Mr. Carson’s response as a lie.
Another attack on the press was when Mr. Marco Rubio, a Florida senator who was asked by a moderator why he won’t resign since he’s missing so many votes at work while running for president, called the mainstream media a Super PAC for Mrs. Hillary Clinton, suggesting that the earned media she’s received has given her an unfair advantage in the race.
Mrs. Clinton has gained a lot of attention recently for the Benghazi hearings, but I would argue that the mainstream media has been much more attentive to Mr. Trump, who hasn’t had to spend nearly as much money on advertising as his counterparts have because of the free air time his controversial remarks garner.
But now, its CNBC who ironically will benefit from free publicity, as the network—who charged $250K per ad during the debate—has become the story of the day.
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Photo: Getty Images
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