oa Van volgzaam en respectvol naar dominant en sturend: de rol van de moderator in het Nederlandse verkiezingsdebat (1963-2010)

From compliant and respectful to dominant and directive: the role of the moderator in Dutch election debates (1963-2010)

Since 1960 televised election debates have become a vital part of election campaigns. In these debates the moderator plays a crucial role, since he or she influences the questions asked to the candidates and interruptions made. However, research on the role of the moderator in televised election debates is generally limited and studies examining the moderator in the Dutch debate context are non-existent. In this article we examine what the role of the moderator is in Dutch televised election debates and whether we witness changes in the moderator’s performance during the last decades. We have systematically analyzed the content of 17 televised ‘list-puller’ debates aired by the public and commercial broadcast channels during the parliamentary election campaigns between 1963-2010. The findings show that since the period of public logic, but especially media logic, the moderator becomes an increasingly dominant participant in the debate. Furthermore, with the entrance of media logic, the moderator seems to make a bigger effort to entertain the present debate audience as well as viewers at home.