September 26, 2000
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DebateWatch 2000 For more information, calltoll-free (888) 864-9875. Or, visit the Web site at www.debates.org. Editors note: Video, audio and photos of Diana Carlin available from University Relations. The video and audio detail DebateWatch efforts and address issues specific to the upcoming presidential debates. To subscribe to KU News |
Diana Carlin, dean of the University of Kansas Graduate School and International Programs and national director for DebateWatch 2000, says voters get the most out of the debates by watching them in groups, with people from different political backgrounds.
What makes her so sure?
In 1992, Carlin, who is a professor of communication studies, and several of her colleagues around the nation conducted extensive research on voter response to the presidential debates. That research led to the formation of DebateWatch '96, a national project aimed at making the 1996 presidential debates more interactive and meaningful to voters. DebateWatch, now in its second presidential cycle, is sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. In 1996, more than 130 organizations sponsored DebateWatch discussions, this year about 200 organizations have already signed up to sponsor DebateWatches, with registration still in progress.
As director of DebateWatch '96, Carlin helped organize several viewings around the nation, and received responses representing nearly 12,000 citizens following the debates. The most common response among those voters, she says, was a feeling that the discussions helped them look at the candidates in ways they never could have from the isolation of their own home.
"We all know as educators that talking - discussion - is the way you learn better, rather than just reading something or watching it. You become an active part of the process," she says.
To give voters in the Lawrence area a chance to benefit from such a discussion, DebateWatch 2000 is organizing an event for one of the upcoming presidential debates.
The viewing begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 17, in the Kansas Union ballroom, but participants should plan on arriving at least 15 minutes before the debate begins. Immediately following the debate, viewers will be asked to answer a survey of three questions: what topics addressed in the debate were most useful or informative; what topics were irrelevant; and what topics of importance were overlooked during the debate.
These answers will be tallied with those from other groups around the nation. The results will be made available the following day, Carlin says.
Refreshments will be provided at the event, which is free and open to the public. It is expected to draw 500 people.
While political discussions can often lead to heated arguments, Carlin says DebateWatch discussions are surprisingly rational and inclusive.
"It was very interesting to see people with very different political backgrounds, supporting different candidates, agreeing with one another about what theses candidates ought to be talking about, because it got down to the public good again."
Karen Anderson, a graduate student from Great Bend, is one of several KU students who will help tabulate the survey responses of the participants in Lawrence and around the nation. Anderson got involved with the event through a course in political communication that Carlin teaches at KU. She says she is most excited about hearing voters' concerns.
"So many of the topics candidates look at today are based on focus groups or polling," Anderson says. "I'm really interested in finding out if there are other topics that aren't being addressed by politicians or picked up by these pre-debate polls."
In the end, Carlin says, it really doesn't matter which candidate comes across as the winner or the loser. Instead, she says, viewers need to focus more on the issues, not the theatrics.
"Think of it as a job interview," Carlin says. "Are you getting the answers that you need to help you make a decision as to who would make the best president?"
If you live in a community that does not have a DebateWatch 2000 event scheduled, you can receive materials from the organization to help you coordinate your own discussion. For more information, call toll-free (888) 864-9875. Or, visit the Web site at www.debates.org.
The DebateWatch 2000 discussion on the KU campus is sponsored by student government, communication studies and the Center for Community Outreach.
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