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It’s not just Harris and Trump who have a lot at stake in next week’s debate. ABC News does, too

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NEW YORK (AP) — Hours after ABC News released the rules for next Tuesday’s presidential debate, resolving a final dispute in Donald Trump’s favor, the former president was on the attack — against ABC News.

“I think a lot of people will be watching to see how nasty they are, how unfair they are,” he said Wednesday on a Fox News town hall.

It was an unsubtle reminder that Trump and Kamala Harris aren’t the only ones with a lot at stake next week. The same is true for ABC News and moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis, in what is the only scheduled debate between the presidential contenders this fall.

Multiple outlets will televise and stream it. But unlike in past years, when presidential debates were organized by a bipartisan commission, this is solely an ABC News production. It won’t include a live audience.

“This is a huge opportunity for ABC News,” said Ben Sherwood, former ABC News president and now publisher & CEO of the Daily Beast. “It’s like getting to host, moderate and produce the Super Bowl of politics. It gives the network luster at a time broadcast television is in decline.”

That is, of course, if things go well.

ABC sees it as a ‘huge responsibility’

The ABC debate was set last spring, when President Joe Biden was the likely Democratic nominee. When he dropped out, it was unclear if the debate would go on. Harris and Trump eventually gave the go-ahead, although the Republican’s repeated criticism of ABC last month raised questions about it again.

It all had little effect on ABC’s planning, said Rick Klein, the network’s Washington bureau chief. “It truly wasn’t a lot of turmoil on our end of things,” he said.

Biden and Trump debated on June 27 — what seems a lifetime ago. That event was put on by CNN, although it is remembered more for Biden’s shaky performance that eventually led him to end his campaign than for anything done by the network or its moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper.

“At the end of the day, this is about helping to create a forum for the candidates to communicate with the public,” Klein said. “It’s a huge responsibility. It’s a humbling responsibility.”

An estimated 51.3 million people watched Biden and Trump in June. But that was before many people were truly tuned into the election, and the potential rematch of the 2020 campaign was drawing little enthusiasm. Tuesday’s debate will almost certainly reach more people, whether or not it approaches the record debate audience of 84 million for the first face-off between Hillary Clinton and Trump in 2016.

Muir’s “World News Tonight” has led the evening news ratings for eight years, making him effectively America’s most popular newscaster. Many nights “World News Tonight” has a bigger audience than anything on prime-time television.

One secret to his success has been ABC’s efforts to craft an apolitical image for him. Tuesday’s audience will be his biggest ever — including people largely unfamiliar with Muir because they seek news elsewhere — and it’s for a political event in polarized times.

Davis has a lower profile, though she hosts ABC’s nightly streaming newscast, fills in for Muir and has moderated presidential nominating debates in the past. Many will be seeing her in action Tuesday for the first time.

Although more complicated in the Trump years, the role of debate moderator is often akin to baseball umpires — it indicates they’ve done a good job when you don’t really notice them. If Muir or Davis figure prominently in Wednesday morning’s stories, that’s probably not a good sign.

“It’s absolutely a minefield,” said Tom Bettag, former ABC News “Nightline” producer. “Ask Chris Wallace.”

Wallace was well respected, considered even-handed and, in 2020 when he moderated the first Biden-Trump debate, was working at Fox News “so the Trump people couldn’t accuse him of being a liberal hack,” Bettag said. “And it still blew up pretty badly. ” Trump’s frequent interruptions exasperated Biden and led to criticism that Wallace lost control of the evening.

The moderators will be ‘there to facilitate’

There’s less of a chance of that happening this year because debate rules call for a candidate’s microphone to be muted when their opponent is speaking, something Trump’s campaign sought because interruptions turn many voters off.

An open mic led to one of Harris’ most-remembered exchanges in her 2020 debate with Vice President Mike Pence. “Mr. Vice President, I am speaking,” she said when Pence interrupted one of her answers, a moment many women could relate to in business situations with men.

While Bash and Tapper occasionally tried to steer Trump or Biden back to the questions when the politicians ducked in CNN’s June debate, they would not correct any lies or misstatements, many of which were pointed out in post-debate analysis. While Klein would not commit to the same policy, he did say that “it’s a debate between them and we’re there to facilitate the conversation.”

Even before his Fox News appearance this week, Trump had repeatedly criticized ABC News, even though he agreed twice to participate in a debate on the network.

He has targeted network political journalists George Stephanopoulos and Jonathan Karl specifically. The former president last spring filed a defamation lawsuit against Stephanopoulos over comments the journalist made about Trump being held liable for sexually abusing advice columnist E. Jean Carroll. ABC has said Stephanopoulos is not involved in debate preparation.

Trump has also spoken about the reported friendship between Harris and Dana Walden, a top executive at ABC’s parent Walt Disney Co., whose oversight has recently expanded to include ABC News. ABC has said Walden is not involved in any news coverage decisions.

To a certain extent, Trump’s comments can be seen as “working the refs,” or appealing to supporters who don’t like the press. A nightmare scenario for ABC is Trump lashing out on Tuesday if he feels things aren’t going well for him.

“From our perspective, we just have to do our job and do it as well as we can,” Klein said.

He wouldn’t give any details about how ABC’s preparations are going, such as what figures have been assigned to portray Harris or Trump in mock debates.

Bettag, a University of Maryland journalism professor who is teaching a course this fall on covering the presidential campaign, has been involved in these preps before. He advises Muir and Davis to take some deep breaths.

“The most important thing is to stay cool, which is hard to do since they’re likely to get yelled at,” he said. “It’s really important to try to keep their voices down and stay steady.”

___

David Bauder writes about media for the AP. Follow him at

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Former fashion tycoon Peter Nygard’s long-delayed sentencing expected today

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TORONTO – Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard is expected to be sentenced for his sexual assault convictions today, after multiple delays in the case that have stretched for months.

The 83-year-old was convicted on four charges last November but the sentencing process has dragged on for several reasons, including Nygard’s difficulties in retaining legal counsel.

The sentencing was postponed once again last month because one of the Crown attorneys was out of the country.

Nygard’s latest lawyer is seeking a six-year sentence, citing her client’s age and health issues, while prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 15 years.

Nygard, who once helmed a successful women’s fashion company, was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women at his firm’s Toronto headquarters from the 1980s until the mid-2000s.

He was ultimately convicted of four counts of sexual assault but acquitted of a fifth count as well as one of forcible confinement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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CanadaNewsMedia news September 9, 2024: Liberal caucus gathers for retreat in Nanaimo

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Here is a roundup of stories from CanadaNewsMedia designed to bring you up to speed…

Liberal caucus gathers for retreat in Nanaimo

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may be bracing for an earful from his caucus when Liberal MPs gather in Nanaimo, B.C. today to plot their strategy for the coming election year.

It will be the first time he faces them as a group since MPs departed Ottawa in the spring.

Still stinging from a devastating byelection loss earlier this summer, the caucus is now also reeling from news that their national campaign director has resigned and the party can no longer count on the NDP to stave off an early election.

The governing Liberals found themselves in political freefall last summer and despite efforts to refocus on key issues like housing and affordability, the polls have not moved back in their favour.

Simmering calls for a new leader reached a new intensity earlier this summer when the Conservatives won over a longtime Liberal stronghold in a major byelection upset in Toronto-St. Paul’s.

Here’s what else we’re watching…

Sentencing expected for Coutts protesters

A judge is expected to hand down sentences today for two men convicted for their roles in the 2022 Coutts, Alta., border blockade.

Anthony Olienick and Chris Carbert were convicted last month of public mischief over $5,000 and possessing a firearm dangerous to the public peace. Olienick was also convicted of possessing a pipe bomb.

A jury found them not guilty of the most serious charge they faced: conspiracy to murder police officers.

The men were charged after RCMP found guns, ammunition and body armour in trailers near the blockade at the key Canada-U.S. border crossing.

The blockade was one of several held across the country to protest COVID-19 rules and vaccine mandates.

Group calls for more tracking of health care funds

The Canadian Medical Association says there should be better tracking of health care spending, following health care agreements the federal government has signed with the provinces and territories.

The doctors’ group has released a new report calling for a greater commitment to tracking improvements in delivery and patient outcomes, citing the complexity of the deals.

It says the report outlines gaps in the agreements, such as that no province or territory has set targets for eliminating emergency room closures.

The medical association wants to establish a national health accountability officer, who would be focused on tracking progress and reporting on the efficiency of health care spending.

Last year, Ottawa announced $196 billion in funding over 10 years to improve access to health care, of which about $45 billion was new money.

Unions face battle organizing Amazon in Canada

Unions trying to organize at Amazon workplaces across Canada are facing a series of hurdles, including legal challenges and alleged anti-union tactics from the e-commerce giant.

Labour laws in Canada are generally stronger than those south of the border, where unions also face an uphill battle, experts say.

Amazon has challenged multiple steps of the certification process at several warehouses in Canada. It has been accused by unions of employing tactics to prevent workers from organizing, such as workplace messages and hiring sprees, which the company denies.

“Our employees have the right to choose to join a union or not to do so. They always have,” Amazon spokeswoman Barbara Agrait said in a statement, responding to characterizations of Amazon as anti-union.

She added that Amazon doesn’t think unions are the best option for its employees.

Peter Nygard’s sentencing expected today

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard is expected to be sentenced for his sexual assault convictions today, after multiple delays in the case that have stretched for months.

The 83-year-old was convicted on four charges last November but the sentencing process has dragged on for several reasons, including Nygard’s difficulties in retaining legal counsel.

The sentencing was postponed once again last month because one of the Crown attorneys was out of the country.

Nygard’s latest lawyer is seeking a six-year sentence, citing her client’s age and health issues, while prosecutors have asked for a sentence of 15 years.

Nygard, who once helmed a successful women’s fashion company, was accused of sexually assaulting multiple women at his firm’s Toronto headquarters from the 1980s until the mid-2000s.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

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Canadian Medical Association calls for more tracking of health care funds

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OTTAWA – The Canadian Medical Association says there should be better tracking of health care spending, following health care agreements the federal government has signed with the provinces and territories.

The doctors’ group has released a new report calling for a greater commitment to tracking improvements in delivery and patient outcomes, citing the complexity of the deals.

It says the report outlines gaps in the agreements, such as that no province or territory has set targets for eliminating emergency room closures.

The medical association wants to establish a national health accountability officer, who would be focused on tracking progress and reporting on the efficiency of health care spending.

Last year, Ottawa announced $196 billion in funding over 10 years to improve access to health care, of which about $45 billion was new money.

Provinces and territories were asked to improve data sharing and measure progress in exchange for funds. In March, Quebec became the last province to sign on.

The association says the report found five provinces and territories don’t have targets for electronic access to health data and seven don’t have targets for information sharing.

It says it urges “all levels of governments to embrace proven solutions to ensure this historic-level funding truly transforms our health system.”

The group says more than 6.5 million Canadians don’t have a primary care physician, “surgical backlogs remain substantial, and the human health resource shortage is overwhelming.”

Association president Joss Reimer says in a statement “enhanced accountability is crucial to successfully implementing durable changes in our health care system.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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