From WNYKK in New York, this is NPR's on the media.

I'm Bob Garfield.

And I'm Brooke Gladstone. Tuesday, Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute staged the first of two debates with the Democratic presidential candidates before a responsive crowd on the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore.

It was a long and yet lively exchange.

The candidates bobbed and weaved, jabbed, and occasionally ducked behind their mics under the mostly focused and persistent questioning of the journalists. Here's Ed Gordon, contributing editor

of Savoy magazine, shooting the same question to Bob Graham he just posed to another candidate.

Mr. Graham, let me ask you the same question that I tried with Senator Kerry.

See, perhaps if you give me a little bit more of straightforward answer, and that is whether or not...

I don't mean that in any disrespect because he can't know this specifically, but in your heart, do you believe that the president intentionally misled the American people?

Yes. I have been a member.

Chris Sullenthrop is Deputy Washington Bureau Chief for Slate.com.

He wrote about this unusual collaboration of Fox News and the Congressional Black Caucus and what came of it.

Chris, welcome to the show.

Thanks for having me on.

So the first line in your article was, can Fox News broadcast every Democratic presidential debate?

And I have to say, I watched the debate, and I thought it was fabulous.

So I agree with you.

It was amazing, wasn't it? I mean, the questions were great. It moved quickly. They kind of lost

control at the end when they did sort of a let's ask every candidate the same question,

but up into that point, I just thought it was great. And I thought the ding-ding bell to

demonstrate that a candidate had finished his time was sort of a great addition.

The bell would ding and you'd know that John Kerry or whoever had spoken 30 seconds past their time without having a

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