CNN: “Gatekeeper” Of Debate Questions

With more than 2,000 video submissions, and just two hours to get answers to them, producers of tonight’s first CNN/YouTube debate have been painstakingly selecting the questions which will be put to the democratic candidates. But critics contend that makes CNN “a third-party gatekeeper” of the questions that are asked. “If CNN has total editorial control over what videos are shown to the candidates, it’s pulling the rug out from under the so-called ‘user-generated content’ revolution,” says Joshua Levy of Techpresident.com.

According to CNN.com, “a small group led by led by Senior VP David Bohrman and CNN Political Director Sam Feist is looking over the questions.”

So if ordinary people are coming up with the questions, what is left for moderator Anderson Cooper? Cooper tells Howard Kurtz, “my primary role is to make sure that the candidates actually answer the questions… politicians are very good at giving responses, but a response is not necessarily an answer…”

>Update: Newsbusters reports there were 2,794 video submissions…

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