What’s the point? What’s the point of another Republican presidential debate?

There have been three, and Donald Trump hasn’t attended any of them. Yet he still leads the other Republican candidates by miles in the polls. There’s another debate Wednesday night in Alabama and Trump will not attend this one either.

So what’s the point?

I asked that very question of Chris Stirewalt on Monday. Stirewalt is the former Fox News political editor who was infamously fired not long after the 2020 presidential election — one where he helped with Fox’s controversial decision to call the state of Arizona for Joe Biden. These days, Stirewalt is a political editor at NewsNation, which is hosting Wednesday night’s debate.

So, back to the question. What’s the point of these debates?

“When it comes to helping voters make up their minds, nothing we have found in the modern era is superior to real, moderated, professionally executed, broadcast debates,” Stirewalt told me. “And I think they’re important. I think that they’re important for how voters make up their minds. I think it’s important for how people get a sense of who these folks are. And I don’t think there is anything better that we’ve found that isn’t a risk-free, puff piece, blow-dried, campaign-approved event that can give people this access. I guess to be excessively corny, this is how we empower voters, and this is how voters can empower themselves by saying, ‘OK, this matters to me, I want to hear these issues discussed, I want to hear who these people are and what they’re about and getting in there.’ It’s old-fashioned, but I think it’s the best shot we’ve got.”

As far as Trump, Stirewalt can see why Trump has avoided the debates. Trump is, essentially, an incumbent and, traditionally, incumbents getting in debates can only hurt and rarely help. There’s nothing to suggest that Trump not participating has hurt his chances one bit.

However, Stirewalt points out, they can still help those who do participate and perform particularly well.

Case in point: former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has established herself as a possible alternative to Trump for Republican voters.

“The rise of Nikki Haley and her success since the first debate says that she has filled a vacuum that was left by Trump,” Stirewalt said, who added that not only did Haley surprise many in the first debate, but she managed to carry that momentum through the next two debates.

On the other hand?

“Ron DeSantis has struggled to find the energy to meet the moment,” Stirewalt said of the Florida governor. “The pressure is on him most of all (going into Wednesday’s debate). … DeSantis can’t afford for the current narrative to continue. When you go into a debate, you think, ‘OK, who wants the status quo and who needs the race to change. And Nikki Haley is pretty happy with the status quo. Ron DeSantis needs the race to change.”

And then there’s the wildcard: businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has shifted strategy in each debate, but mostly coming off as Trump Lite. 

“He has not made up his mind about what kind of candidate he wants to be,” Stirewalt said. “And we’re going to find that on Wednesday, too.”

Speaking of Wednesday, Stirewalt is helping the relatively new NewsNation prepare for its first big moment in the spotlight as host of a presidential debate. The moderators are in an interesting mix: NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas, Eliana Johnson from the conservative Washington Free Beacon, and former Fox News and NBC personality Megyn Kelly, who now hosts her own SiriusXM show.

I asked Stirewalt what makes a good debate moderator.

“What you’re looking for is poise,” Stirewalt said. “You’re looking for a deep knowledge of the issues and the individuals, which you can’t cram for. You have to be immersed in that all the time. It has to be part of who you are. It has to be somebody who has that built in. The other essential ingredient is what I call dispassionate advocacy.”

Dispassionate advocacy?

“The moderator themself should not be an advocate for any political point of view, candidate or issue,” Stirewalt said. “But they should be passionate in advocating for voters. This is where the public trust component of the news business is front and center.”

Stirewalt said the goal is simple: to help viewers, particularly Republican viewers, make up their minds. Stirewalt emphasized that “this is a debate between the candidates, not between the candidates and the moderators.”

In other words, moderators can keep the candidates on topic, and within the rules of the debate. But, Stirewalt said, “If someone bloviates or exaggerates or generally acts like a politician, that should be an opportunity for one of the other candidates on the stage to say, ‘Wait a minute, hold on.’ ”

Stirewalt wouldn’t give away any hints about what topics or issues might come up (“I am, of course, not going to tell what we’re doing,” Stirewart said with a laugh.)

“But I will tell you this,” he said, “these people are applying for the most important job in the world. And they ought to be put through their paces and they ought to be asked a variety of questions and they ought to be asked some unexpected things. But more than anything, we just want to give voters a sense of who these people really are and what their presidency would be like.”

Stirewalt on cable news

Before our conversation ended, Stirewalt and I talked a little about the current cable news landscape. I asked the former Fox News political editor how he liked working at NewsNation. Fox has consistently claimed Stirewalt’s ouster there was simply because of budget cuts, and nothing to do with being a part of the team that called the state of Arizona for Biden in 2020. Stirewalt later testified before the Jan. 6 committee about the election and the Arizona call that turned out to be right.

Stirewalt said he wasn’t looking to get back into cable news, but “the vibe is very good.”

He is writing and editing for The Dispatch, as well as being a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He also wrote a successful book, “Broken News: Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America and How to Fight Back.”

Now he enjoys being at NewsNation, too.

“It has been a ton of fun because it has been fun to build something,” Stirewalt said. “And it’s fun to be a part of something that is wholesome, that you feel like maybe is doing some good for the country instead of just capitalizing on division and resentment to make a quick buck.”

Wait, that wasn’t was that a reference to his former employer or any other cable news network, was it?

“No, absolutely not,” Stirewalt said unconvincingly.

Stirewalt said he does not “consume a whole lot of the Fox News product.”

But he added, “There is a market for aspirationally fair and, dare I say, fair and balanced news coverage in this world. It’s the underserved part of the market. And it’s a harder way to get there. Trying to be fair. Trying to present a balanced view of the world is a harder way than just flattering people and reinforcing their existing prejudices and biases. But it’s worth doing because it’s good for the country. And it’s worth doing because it’s a lot more vocationally satisfying to do. It feels better, it’s more enjoyable. It’s more sustainable in a lot of ways.”

Upon further review

Perry Bacon Jr.’s latest column for The Washington Post: “What Mehdi Hasan’s cancellation shows about MSNBC.”

Bacon starts off by writing, “The cancellation of Mehdi Hasan’s show is the latest in a series of recent moves by MSNBC that are pushing the network in the direction of being the television arm of the Democratic Party leadership, as opposed to a news outlet that upholds left-wing values and perspectives. The network should reverse its decision on Hasan and make clear that it embraces progressive criticism of President Biden and other Democratic leaders.”

Hasan’s Sunday night show didn’t get great ratings — only a half a million or so tuned in. “But,” Bacon writes, “segments from Hasan’s show often go viral online, reaching people like me who don’t regularly watch cable news.”

Apparently many feel that way. The cancellation of Hasan’s show has stirred quite the backlash on social media and in my inbox. “What is MSNBC thinking?” one reader asked me.

Bacon wrote, “I doubt this decision was driven only by ratings and revenue. A one-hour show on Sunday night hosted by Hasan isn’t a major cost for a big network such as MSNBC. The revenue and reputation of cable news networks are determined largely by their early morning and prime-time shows on weekdays. (I was an on-air contributor at MSNBC from 2011 to 2016.) MSNBC had a lot of reasons to keep Hasan as a host and no obvious ones to remove him.”

Hasan remains with the network, as an analyst and fill-in host.

Be sure to read Bacon’s strong column, which addresses where MSNBC is at the moment, and where it might be heading. As Bacon wrote, “A pro-Democrats network is fine. MSNBC should make sure it doesn’t become MSDNC.”

Dire warning

Cover of the January/February issue of The Atlantic. (Photo: courtesy of The Atlantic)

The Atlantic is publishing a special January/February edition with the theme: “If Trump Wins.” (Parts are already online.)

The Atlantic said in a statement that the special, “… warns of the grave and extreme consequences if former President Trump were to win in 2024 –– building an overwhelming case, across two dozen essays by Atlantic writers, that both Trump and Trumpism pose an existential threat to America and to the ideas that animate it. With each writer focusing on their subject area of expertise, the issue argues that assuming a second term would mirror the first is a mistake: The threats to democracy will be greater, as will the danger of authoritarianism and corruption. A second Trump presidency, the opening essay states, would mark the turn onto a dark path, one of those rips between ‘before’ and ‘after’ that a society can never reverse.”

In an editor’s note titled “A Warning,” Atlantic editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg writes, “Our concern with Trump is not that he is a Republican, or that he embraces — when convenient — certain conservative ideas. We believe that a democracy needs, among other things, a strong liberal party and a strong conservative party in order to flourish. Our concern is that the Republican Party has mortgaged itself to an antidemocratic demagogue, one who is completely devoid of decency.”

Another dire warning

Former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s book “Oath and Honor,” about Jan. 6 and Donald Trump, comes out today. On Monday, she appeared on NBC’s “Today” show and said we are in a “very dangerous moment” with Trump possibly getting back to the White House, adding “that cannot be the path we go down as a country.”

“Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie then said, “It seems crazy to ask this, and even crazier to fathom it, but do you believe if Donald Trump were elected next year, that he would try to stay in office beyond a second term? That he would never leave office?”

Cheney said, “There’s no question.”

Guthrie followed up, “You think he would try to stay in power forever?”

Cheney said, “Absolutely. I mean, he’s already done it once. And in fact if you look at what he did in the run up to Jan. 6 in terms of his pressure on the vice president, not to count legitimate electoral votes, his pressure on the Department of Justice and state officials. And then refusing to send help when the Capitol was under attack, he’s already attempted to seize power. And he was stopped, thankfully, and for the good of the nation and the republic. But he has said he would do it again. He has expressed no remorse for what he did.”

Spotify cuts 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs

For this item, I turned it over to my Poynter colleague, Angela Fu.

Spotify is laying off roughly 1,500 employees, or 17% of its global workforce, CEO Daniel Ek announced in a memo to staff Monday.

The cuts come after a period of significant expansion in 2020 and 2021, Ek wrote. Though those investments have helped Spotify grow, the company now faces a “very different environment.” 

“We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025. Yet, considering the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs, I decided that a substantial action to rightsize our costs was the best option to accomplish our objectives,” Ek wrote.

He added that the company had become more productive, but less efficient: “Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. In two words, we have to become relentlessly resourceful.

Due to the layoffs, Spotify now expects the equivalent of $141 to $157 million in charges from severance payments and other expenses during the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday. The company anticipates it will end the fourth quarter with a loss of $100 to $117 million.

Monday’s cuts mark the third round of layoffs at Spotify this year. In June, the company laid off 200 people, or 2% of its workforce, from its podcasting division, and in January, Spotify eliminated 600 jobs, or 6% of its workforce.

250 days

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands in a glass cage in a courtroom at the Moscow City Court in Moscow on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Monday marked the 250th day that Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich had been detained in Russia on charges of espionage. The Journal and U.S. government vehemently deny Gershkovich is a spy, and the U.S. considers him “wrongfully detained.”

Emma Tucker, editor in chief of the Journal, wrote, “It Is Time to Bring Evan Home  — A Letter From The Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief.”

Tucker wrote that it has been 250 days since Russian President Vladimir Putin clamped down on independent media, including foreign press; and 250 days since Gershkovich has been locked up in a Russian prison; and 250 days that WSJ readers have been deprived of Gershkovich’s reporting; and 250 since Gerskkovich’s family, friends and colleagues have been working tirelessly to bring him home.

Tucker wrote, “That’s 250 days too long. It is time to bring Evan home. Please join us in supporting Evan and the cause of a free press. #IStandWithEvan.”

AJP-backed sites expand

For this item, I turn it over to Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds.

The American Journalism Project (AJP) has announced launches Tuesday to expand a pair of its big-city news organizations. The recently formed Free Press of Indiana will begin publishing Mirror Indy for Indianapolis.  At the same time Signal Ohio, launched in November 2022 in Cleveland, is adding an Akron edition with its own newsroom.   

Mirror Indy is finishing hiring for a news staff of 20 and says it will grow to roughly the size of Gannett’s IndyStar. The goal for Signal Akron is a news staff of 11. Both will make use of Documenters, a structure originated in Chicago, that trains citizens to provide basic coverage of public meetings,and other civic news, which the site then publishes.

AJP provides some funding — but most of that comes from a coalition of local philanthropies. AJP helps with a lengthy “community listening” process, asking the target audience what it wants. Closer to launch, it coaches CEO’s and other business staff — some of them new to publishing – on hiring and revenue strategy.

Each of the projects has picked a name with local color. Signal Ohio references the invention of the stoplight in Cleveland. Similarly, Mirror Indy honors the invention of the rearview mirror in Indianapolis.

Word of the year

Do you have rizz? If you have to ask what “rizz” is, you probably don’t have it.

“Rizz” is slang for “style, charm or attractiveness,” or “the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.” And it has been named Oxford’s 2023 Word of the Year.

Rizz beat out “Swiftie” (a huge fan of singer-songwriter Taylor Swift) and two other words as word of the year. The other two words were  “situationship” (an informal romantic or sexual relationship) and “prompt” (an instruction given to an artificial intelligence program).

Why rizz, which is believed to come from the world “charisma?”

In its announcement, Oxford said, “Our language experts chose rizz as an interesting example of how language can be formed, shaped, and shared within communities, before being picked up more widely in society. It speaks to how younger generations now have spaces, online or otherwise, to own and define the language they use. From activism to dating and wider culture, as Gen Z comes to have more impact on society, differences in perspectives and lifestyle play out in language, too.”

The New York Times’ Jennifer Schuessler notes, “Rizz emerged out of internet and gaming culture, according to Oxford, and was popularized in 2022 by the YouTube and Twitch streamer Kai Cenat, who posted ‘rizz tips’ videos online. It went viral in June, after the actor Tom Holland, in an interview with Buzzfeed, said: ‘I have no rizz whatsoever. I have limited rizz.’”

Media tidbits

• CNN’s Helen Regan and Hamdi Alkhshali with “CNN Gaza reporter’s relatives killed and childhood home destroyed in two separate strikes.”
• “The Visual Voice,” a podcast from the National Press Photographers Association’s News Photographer magazine, discusses The Washington Post’s “Terror on Repeat” piece that showed graphic photos following mass shootings.
• The Associated Press has launched a new weekly politics newsletter called “Ground Game.”  Written by national politics reporter Meg KinnardIt, it will feature top politics and election news from Washington and the nation ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
• Former ESPN staffer Joel Anderson writes for Slate: “It Was Never About Sticking to Sports. Years after many of the staffers — including me — were scolded into keeping our opinions to ourselves, ESPN’s real crisis is coming into focus.”
• I’ve become a tad annoyed with ESPN’s morning show “Get Up,” which should change its name to “Get Up and Start Yelling About NFL Quarterbacks.” However, this is a pretty good rant by host Mike Greenberg over Florida State getting left out of the College Football Playoff. “You know what happened (Sunday)? Football became figure skating.”

More resources for journalists

• Poynter ACES Introductory Certificate in Editing (Online) — Enroll now.
• How to Improve Your Coverage of LGBTQ+ Communities (Webinar) — Start anytime.
• Transforming Local Crime Reporting Into Public Safety Journalism (Seminar) — Apply now.Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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