The audio glitch at the first 2020 Democratic primary debate recalled a more serious calamity in 1976, when a nationally broadcast forum went silent for a painstaking 27 minutes.
“They were talking and all the sudden they quit,” a TV journalist exclaimed, as networks scrambled to fill air time with then-President Gerald Ford and future President Jimmy Carter standing behind podiums in Philadelphia.
The Wednesday debate issue, by contrast, was quickly resolved, with NBC hosts in Miami making use of a commercial break. That issue apparently was caused by sound technicians not shutting off microphones of journalists who questioned candidates before exiting the stage.
But in 1976, TV crews were far less experienced with debate mechanics. That year saw the first televised presidential debates since 1960, when a suave John F. Kennedy stomped sweaty Richard Nixon.
The Ford-Carter issue occurred about 81 minutes into what was supposed to be a 90-minute domestic policy debate. Ford spoke about imposing “proper supervision” over intelligence agencies found to have committed misconduct including domestic spying under past presidents.
Carter’s final words in the debate were about a “breakdown in trust among our people.”
One news anchor stressed: “It is not a conspiracy against Gov. Carter or President Ford.”
ABC, the outlet that provided a single video pool feed to other networks, attributed the issue to a blown audio amplifier.
