The New Orleans Consortium announced today it is hosting a presidential forum on Thursday, Sept. 18 at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. In a press release, the group announced it will "use Google technology and the YouTube video platform to drive citizen engagement and to create a dynamic, compelling, and constructive live television broadcast." TVNewser has learned Google will be looking for a broadcast or cable news partner for the event.

This forum comes 10 days before the first of three sanctioned presidential debates on Sept. 28 in Oxford, MS.

Naturally, the forum is explained in a YouTube video featuring Gov. Bobby Jindal, Mayor Ray Nagin and execs from Google and its subsidiary, YouTube.

Click continued to see it...

> More from an insider: "It's not clear that the Commission on Presidential Debates is going to give the web an appropriate role in their events, so Google/YouTube are taking the initiative to fill the breach, and some cable or broadcast network who is chafing at the Commission bit is going to leap at that opportunity to join in."