NPR AND IOWA PUBLIC RADIO ANNOUNCE DETAILS FOR LIVE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ON DECEMBER 4
ALL DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES CONFIRMED TO PARTICIPATE
Washington, D.C.; November 19, 2007 – The NPR News and Iowa Public Radio national Democratic Presidential debate, to be broadcast and webcast live from 1:00-3:00PM (CT) on Tuesday, December 4, will be held at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines, with NPR News journalists and hosts Steve Inskeep, Michele Norris and Robert Siegel as moderators.
The two-hour event, leading up to the Iowa Caucus, will offer the first audio-only debate of the presidential race and will repeat the format introduced in 2004 by NPR and the NPR Member Stations of Iowa. All major Democratic candidates are confirmed to attend. The setting is relaxed: the candidates sit closely together around a U-shaped table, with no studio audience or video cameras. Breaking away from the question-and-answer structure traditionally presented by the television networks, the NPR/IPR debate will feature three areas of discussion and the moderators will enable the candidates to conduct a dialogue with each other. The debate will take place in the State Historical Museum’s new “Caucus Iowa” exhibit, featuring history and memorabilia about the first-in-the-nation event.
The NPR/IPR 2004 debate aired nationally on NPR Member stations and was extensively praised by the media and by listeners for its thoughtful pace, depth of conversation and interaction between the participants. Comparing it to the televised versions, The Dallas Morning News said, “We actually learned from the candidates in this one.”
The first broadcast of the debate will be exclusive to NPR Member stations around the country; many stations will also rebroadcast it that evening and in other time periods. The debate will also air on Sirius Satellite Radio, in more than 150 countries through NPR Worldwide Service and on American Forces Radio reaching U.S. military around the world. The debate will be streamed lived on NPR.org and numerous Member stations’ websites. Following the initial exclusive broadcast and webcast, NPR will make the recording fully accessible to all media outlets and individuals, without license restrictions; it will also be available for permanent on-demand streaming at NPR.org and via NPR Member stations’ sites.
NPR and IPR are working with the Republican presidential candidates to reschedule the forum originally planned for December 3. The leading Republican candidates cited scheduling conflicts and multiple debate requests from news and political party organizations. NPR is currently working closely with them to identify another suitable date and location.
NPR programs reach more than 26 million listeners weekly, and NPR Member stations have a weekly audience of more than 30 million people. Iowa Public Radio reaches more than 240,000 weekly listeners across the state.
