Turn's Out, TV Debates Matter


Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between media tech and culture. Apologies for the late hour at which this newsletter reaches you. I've been at the Publisher Newsletter Awards. More on that on Thursday...

Politico and media types like to smugly dismiss election debates, frequently claiming they don’t change very much. I’ve done it myself. Well, the events of the last few weeks have rather put paid to that notion. A disastrous performance from President Joe Biden confirmed many worries about him and started a chain of events that means he is now not seeking re-election.

This decision, not unreasonably given its significance, caused a media frenzy. It was frantic, with every political commentator you can think of, and many you can’t, getting called by producers to help fill airtime provide insight. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was reportedly dragged away from a brunch at which he was trying a cocktail named after him.

Front pages, of course, covered with the story and now turn their attention to the apparent anointed successor, Vice President Kamala Harris. 

Read the whole article with a paid subscription.

£5.00 / month

£4.00 / month

Paid Newsletter

Take out a paid subscription to The Addition for member-only newsletter containing extra insights and scoops about the... Read more

The Addition

Charlotte Henry is a journalist and broadcaster who creates and runs The Addition newsletter and podcast; an award-winning publication looking at the crossover between media and technology.

Read more from The Addition
A close up of a computer keyboard with a blue background

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. It's another international break (in football). The perfect opportunity for attention to turn to the domestic women's game. The appetite for women’s football in the UK seems to be growing, thanks in no small part to the decision to move coverage of games not shown on linear TV to YouTube. Per The Guardian, numbers are up threefold from last season when fans had to use the extremely clunky FA Player to watch...

A picture of a tree in the middle of a table

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between culture, media and sport. The BBC's International Correspondent Jeremy Bowen conducted an interview with the senior Hamas official Khalil Al Hayya on Tuesday, that was broadcast on Thursday. There are arguments both ways as to whether such an interview should take place. If it's done properly, I'm probably in favour of it happening. However, the day the conversation was broadcast just so happened to be the first day of Rosh...

A micro processor sitting on top of a table

Welcome to The Addition, where I cover the crossover between media culture and sport. Somehow, we’re mid-way through September and hurtling through to the final quarter of 2024. With that in mind, I thought I’d take a look at my predictions from the start of the year to see how I’m doing, and ponder what may happen in the the final three months of the year. First things first, these were my guesses for 2024: At Least Two Streaming Services Will Merge Blogging is Back Elon Musk Will Sell...