A new frontier?
The Washington Post’s Jose Antonio Vargas writes about the upcoming CNN/YouTube debate and talks with CNN’s David Bohrman…
“As much as I wish we could use the voting method of YouTube, I just don’t think it’s realistic,” Bohrman said. If the number of views determined the videos asked at the debate, then candidates could study the most-viewed videos and game the system, Bohrman explained. Furthermore, the most-viewed video as of Monday afternoon, he pointed out, asks if Arnold Schwarzenegger is a cyborg.
“This is the first time that online video gets a seat on the table to help elect a president,” Bohrman said, “and we don’t want to let it fall on its face.”
“As much as I wish we could use the voting method of YouTube, I just don’t think it’s realistic,” Bohrman said. If the number of views determined the videos asked at the debate, then candidates could study the most-viewed videos and game the system, Bohrman explained. Furthermore, the most-viewed video as of Monday afternoon, he pointed out, asks if Arnold Schwarzenegger is a cyborg.
Translation:
We want all the benefits for looking hip and relevant by partnering with a large online community but none of the negatives.
Instead of calling it the CNN/You Tube debate, it should be called the “CNN/Viewer submitted video questions that we have pre-screened because we don’t actually care what questions you want answered debate”. I mean is there any real difference between this type of debate and every other debate?
Comment by Steve — July 19, 2007 @ 3:05 pm