The questions posed in debates between presidential candidates are usually drawn up by whichever media outlet is producing the programme, but in a technological twist, tonight CNN’s Anderson Cooper will be relaying questions submitted directly by YouTube users.

According to the site, “more than 2,000 online videos were submitted for consideration for the event,” of which two to three dozen will have been selected to playback to the would-be presidents in the city of Charleston, South Carolina.

New Technology, Same Old Story?

Profy reports that the way the joint YouTube-CNN venture has been publicised has decreased pessimism towards politics amongst the general public, and also made it more appealing - if only because of the novel method the questioning is being delivered.

However, despite the new-fangled method of casual interrogations offered by YouTube and the very nature of the site as a beacon for free speech, we imagine that the selection of queries will still have been carefully crafted in order to keep the candidates well away from topics considered too tricky or controversial.

Questions of Sustainability

With a similar event planned for Republican Party candidates on September 17, YouTube and CNN’s original format will be with us a little longer yet. Whether both viewers and politicians continue to accept and support it as a method of submission, however, is another matter entirely.

The YouTube-inspired debate between all eight hopefuls for the 2008 Democratic Party nomination will be broadcast tonight on CNN at 7pm EST.

[Via YouTube]

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