Tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern on CNN (see the set embedded below) the first YouTube debate will kick off. While many are upset that CNN is choosing a black box approach for determining which of the nearly 3,000 submitted video questions will be asked of the candidates, just about everyone is interested to see whether the event can help democratize political discourse.
The key will be finding questions that are different from the conventional mainstream media fare, but not too idiosyncratic, off-topic, or sophomoric. We’ll definitely be watching. Let us know if you do too. In the meantime, here are some interesting comments:
David Bohrman, the Washington bureau chief for CNN: “This way, every single question has a chance to get into this debate,” he said. “I know we’ll be second-guessed to death. But I want there to be more uses of new media, this year and in 2012. So it’s important that we not screw it up and have politicians say, ‘I’m never going to do one of those again.’ ” (New York Times)
“Do you see the duality here? YouTube is at once a disintermediator for democracy and democracy’s greatest show.” (Steve Bryant, Reel Pop)
“Dan Rather, also on the broadcast, agreed that no journalist would venture to ask [a question about Bill Clinton’s infidelity]. ‘Candidates do hate — genuinely hate — audience participation,” Rather said, “because they like to control the environment.'” (L.A. Times)
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