Monday, July 23, 2007

Democratic Candidates Face YouTubers Tonight


CNN will tonight host a Democratic all-candidates debate in which the questions will be coming from YouTube users. YouTube received 2,300 video questions from the American public from which CNN will chose around 30.

A lot of bloggers are disappointed that CNN gets to filter the questions, seeing it as a form of censorship. Then again, CNN is airing the debate and the procedure is somewhat novel.

The candidates have been given a "heads up" on at least one question they'll face. From The Guardian:

Among them is a 30-second clip from a cancer survivor who removes her wig and says her chances of survival are not as good as they would have been if she had had health insurance.

"What would you, as president, do to make low-cost or free preventative medicine available for everyone in this country?" she asks.

I'm not sure this is as big a deal as CNN would suggest. After all, candidates often subject themselves to open-line radio where the questions from callers are a lot more spontaneous than the YouTube project.

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