The Presidential Debates : Fifty Years of High Risk TV » (2nd Edition)

Alan Schroeder, an associate professor in the School of Journalism at Northeastern University, has written extensively about the relationship between presidential politics and the media. He has also worked as a journalist, television producer, and diplomat.

Alan Schroeder's popular history now covers the 2000 Bush-Gore and 2004 Bush-Kerry debates, including innovations in format and press coverage, and adds new research on televised debates since 1960. Schroeder organizes his book according to a television production timeline, highlighting the importance of pre- and postdebate periods, as well as the live telecasts themselves. He describes production in painstaking detail, from the selection of questioners to camera angles, from makeup to lighting and set design.

Televised debates represent a rare departure from well-choreographed campaigns, and new media such as YouTube continue to reshape form and content. Conducting interviews with journalists and industry insiders, and drawing on his own experience as an award-winning reporter and television producer, Schroeder delivers a fascinating backstage tour of every aspect of debate performance.

Introduction The First Presidential Debate 1

Pt. I Preproduction

1 The Predebate Debate 15

2 Predebate Strategy 48

3 Candidate Preparation 80

4 Predebate News Coverage 98

Pt. II Production

5 The Debaters 135

6 The Questioners 177

7 The Productions 209

Pt. III Postproduction

8 Postdebate News Coverage 243

9 The Audience 282

10 Making Presidential Debates Better 299

Notes 311

Selected Bibliography 349

App Schedule of Televised Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates, 1960-2004 357

Index 361