The Breakfast Meeting: Grades Are Handed Out Before the Debate\'s Final Question

By BILL BRINK

“Grade the Debate,'' The Wall Street Journal said to readers, offering the option of letter grades A to F on a variety of subjects. But most readers probably didn't need an invitation. Reaction during Wednesday night's presidential debate and afterward careered around the Internet and filled hours on the television airwaves.

Jim Lehrer, the moderator, probably wouldn't want to read his report card. He was roundly criticized, Politico reports, by both conservatives and liberals alike, raising new questions about the format and the role of the moderator.

But President Obama didn't fare very well either, judging by much of the early reaction. Instant reaction polls by CBS and CNN showed that Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, was the clear winner, Nate Silver wrote in The Times.

Left-leaning media seemed particularly aghast that the president looked so lackluster, Brian Stelter reported in The Times, an impres sion that was reinforced by the instant feedback on sharing platforms like Twitter. The reaction, he writes, “helped harden conventional wisdom that Mr. Obama had turned in a weak performance, even before he had finished speaking.''

Because we are a nation that loves lists - making them and reading them - a number of compilations made the rounds in the debate's aftermath. Politico offered up the five best debate lines by each candidate, and The Washington Post presented six reasons Mr. Romney won. Start making your own.

Ultimately, Alessandra Stanley wrote in The Times, it was “a glaringly public confrontation that looked oddly intimate and personal. And that may help explain why tens of million of people tune in - there is nothing else like it on television.''

Elsewhere (was there even an ‘elsewhere'?) in media news, Marjorie Scardino will step down as chief executive of Pearson, the global media and education company, Amy Chozick reported in The Tim es. Ms. Scardino was one of the highest ranking female executives in Britain. The company owns The Financial Times, and her departure, expected in January, raises questions about whether Pearson would sell it along with other publishing assets.

Natasha Singer reported that the Federal Trade Commission settled charges with the operator of a fan Web site for pop stars like Justin Bieber and Rihanna. The company, Artist Arena, agreed to pay a $1 million penalty after the government charged that it illegally collected personal information, like addresses and cellphone numbers, from thousands of children.