Priručnik za organizaciju izbirnih TV debata
Organizing and producing televised candidate debates: A Guide

Author(s): Bojan Klačar, Zoran Stanojević
Subject(s): Politics, Media studies, Civil Society, Communication studies, Electoral systems, Theory of Communication
Published by: CeSID
Keywords: Serbia; Elections: Debates
Summary/Abstract: Debates between candidates for elected office raise issues of crucial importance to the public. In them politicians talk directly to one another to present their political positions and explain their manifestos, contributing to the improvement of general standards of knowledge in the course of an election campaign and allowing members of the public to make informed decisions about who to vote for. Debates promote discussion of details by carefully placing key elements in focus, as necessitated by the time constraints imposed by the moderator. Debates also promote personal and political accountability of political stakeholders, improve communication with voters, and strengthen the transparency of politics. Since 2012, the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and the Serbian Broadcasting Corporation (RTS) have been organizing a series of debates titled Reč na reč (‘Word for Word’), with the main goal of promoting a culture of political dialogue by promoting well-argued discussion in a thematically focused television format. These programs have found broad acceptance amongst the public and achieved impressive ratings, with broadcasts of national-level candidate debates reaching a particularly broad audience. The debates also received the highest praise from media professionals, and have also been commended by the Commission on Presidential Debates of Washington, DC, to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their selflessness in conveying their knowledge and experience.

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