Talk Radio News Service attended the ABC/Facebook/WMUR New Hampshire Primary Debate tonight and we went to work. Our side bar of Twitter updates shows the full range of staff thoughts, observations and comments during both the Republican and Democratic debates. We've got all the sound bites that caught media and viewer attention. We have video interviews and footage of the spin. We have a full debate/primary update on the way.
We also took on the spin room. As a first time observer, this reporter found the spin room a little over the top. Non-press and non-politicos should know that the spin room is exactly what it sounds like. A whole lot of well-trained professionals rehashing everything that just happened on the debate with their particular spin. The branded message comes out in full force. The various surrogates and officials who have given their endorsements to a particular candidate come out and talk them up or slam their opponents. Everything is scripted or creating a script out of unscripted things that were said. When did politicians at this level need trained PR professionals to fight their battles for them? Didn't they just finish fighting this battle at the podium?
The spin room defines herd mentality. You try not to get caught up, but these candidate are what we report on day to day so it's tricky. You try not to nod or shake your head and just ask the good, hard questions (I am sure this the other meaning of the term "press" as in "full court") Just observing, and sticking my microphone in faces I observed all the good, bad, and downright ugly of Spin Alley. Some surrogates had well rounded speeches, some went for their opponents knees. But only one person I was able to record managed to seem human. She didn't come across that way because of the way she propped up her candidate; it wasn't because she didn't tear down other candidates; it wasn't that she wasn't spinning--she was. I didn't make this observation because I have a position on her candidate. But Elizabeth Edwards came across as genuine the moment a photographer knelt down on the ground to shoot up at her profile and she stopped her spin, looked down, and said, "That is such a lousy angle for me and every woman, just so you know,"she laughed. "Every woman will say that, right?"
Spinning
We also took on the spin room. As a first time observer, this reporter found the spin room a little over the top. Non-press and non-politicos should know that the spin room is exactly what it sounds like. A whole lot of well-trained professionals rehashing everything that just happened on the debate with their particular spin. The branded message comes out in full force. The various surrogates and officials who have given their endorsements to a particular candidate come out and talk them up or slam their opponents. Everything is scripted or creating a script out of unscripted things that were said. When did politicians at this level need trained PR professionals to fight their battles for them? Didn't they just finish fighting this battle at the podium?
The spin room defines herd mentality. You try not to get caught up, but these candidate are what we report on day to day so it's tricky. You try not to nod or shake your head and just ask the good, hard questions (I am sure this the other meaning of the term "press" as in "full court") Just observing, and sticking my microphone in faces I observed all the good, bad, and downright ugly of Spin Alley. Some surrogates had well rounded speeches, some went for their opponents knees. But only one person I was able to record managed to seem human. She didn't come across that way because of the way she propped up her candidate; it wasn't because she didn't tear down other candidates; it wasn't that she wasn't spinning--she was. I didn't make this observation because I have a position on her candidate. But Elizabeth Edwards came across as genuine the moment a photographer knelt down on the ground to shoot up at her profile and she stopped her spin, looked down, and said, "That is such a lousy angle for me and every woman, just so you know,"she laughed. "Every woman will say that, right?"
And we all nodded.