TV election debates can be nerveracking for moderaters

AUCKLAND: They come around every three years. Everything from the studio sets and the position of the podiums, to the colour of the ties, is carefully thought out; and then they are analysed to death.

Televised election debates can be thrilling — or a snoozefest.

This year’s first televised debate will be this evening, on TVNZ, moderated by John Campbell.

Controversyloving Mike Hosking revels in hosting them, saying there is nothing like the pressure of the live TV debate on television.

RNZ’s Guyon Espiner has a different take.

He hosted the 2011 leaders’ and minor parties’ debates for TVNZ.

‘‘It was nerveracking, actually,’’ he said yesterday.

‘‘We had an audience of about a million people for those, and you’re also in front of a live audience in the studio.

‘‘I was pretty nervous about it. ‘‘It’s a big deal because there’s a lot at stake, and there’s a lot of eyes on you, and a lot of weight of responsibility because you really do feel that this is a key moment in the election campaign. It’s a key democratic moment and you need to be fair.’’

However, he said while there was plenty of pressure on the host, it was pretty exhilarating as well.

‘‘It’s a bit like being a traffic cop in a lot of ways and the thing can fly out of hand.

‘‘You need exit strategies if you’re moderating one of these debates. ‘What am I going to do if . . . Because it can spiral out of control pretty quickly . . . if someone decides they’re not going to play by the rules, what are you going to do?’’

Mark Jennings was head of news at TV3 when two leaders of minor parties took the network to court for being excluded from the debate in 2005.

One of those leaders was former United Future leader Peter Dunne.

Mr Jennings said the debates became so unwieldy with so many participants that leaders were only getting about four or five minutes out of the hour.

That is when he tried to drop Mr Dunne and Jim Anderton’s Progressive Party off the end.

The pair won their case, the judge saying they had a right to express their democratic opinion.

Mr Jennings said that illustrated how important these debates were under the MMP system.