I think that public debate on controversial topics are turned into battles by the media. I think that this is true especially in politics. If the left wing supports the issue at hand, then the right wing media outlets turn what was said into a battle. If the right wing supports the issue at hand, then the left wing turns what was said into a battle. From what I have observed, both sides are willing to fight for what they believe, whether what was said during the debate was taken out of context or not.