With few exceptions, the media figures who moderated the presidential primary debates focused on campaign gaffes, political tactics, and personal issues and, as a result, critical issues were pushed aside. While the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq raged, the mortgage crisis gathered steam, and nearly 50 million Americans continued to go without health insurance, the debate moderators focused on frivolous and trivial matters, far removed from the issues the public wanted to hear about.

The Media Matters Action Network report Change the Debate documents the media’s poor performance in their handling of the debates during the primaries.

If there is one thing that is clear from the deplorable performance by the moderators of the Republican and Democratic presidential primary debates, it’s that they failed the American people. This week marks the first debate of the general election, and the public deserves a conversation on how the potential leaders of our country will take on the biggest issues of our day, not questions on petty politics and horse-race-focused nonsense.