Real People: YouTube Debate
Snipped from slate.com.
I don’t know if you caught the YouTube Democratic presidential debate last night but for once a national debate actually had some real people in it. Thanks to the genius of YouTube. I found it to be absolutely refreshing compared to the slick, stylized questions asked by seasoned journalists and political pundits. This was the first entrance of true citizenry participation on a large scale. I hope there were many watching because it was worth the time spent. Some questions were silly, some provocative and some just downright good from the series of homemade videos filmed from people’s back yards, living rooms and just about anywhere else you can think of. You may find some went a little too far but at least, they were real. The following is a sampling of some of the stand-outs.
There was the woman who has breast cancer who posed a question about preventive medicine as she pulled the wig off her bald head. There was a real snowman in someone’s front yard who asked if he should be worried about global warming. Here are a few more that caught my attention:
- A guitarist asked about taxes and requested that his parking ticket be pardoned.
- A Michigan man who wanted to know if his ‘baby’ — a huge automatic rifle in his hand — would be protected.
- Two Tennessee men asked whether candidates’ feelings were hurt by the Al Gore hype.
- People at a refugee camp asked how the candidates would help the Darfur region.
- A North Carolina pastor asked why religion was used against gays.
- A woman asked about energy consumption as she showed off her energy efficient lights.
Here is a portion of the article that reveals what viewers experienced.
The highly hyped experiment in user generated content worked. In the privacy of their homes people were at ease and their videos reflected that. They sounded human. Had the same people been standing in the auditorium at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina asking questions they would have frozen up or tried to sound too polished.
In the slate.com article there are responses to the above questions and more. If you would like to read the full article click the image below.
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Im watching the debate now, Im only a couple questions in.
Man I wish Kucinich had a chance, thats an anti-war candidate!
I’ll spout some more inane babble when I’m done.
You know what’s funny about Kucinich is that the media portrays him as an extremist who can’t be taken seriously yet he probably represents 60% of the American sentiment and even more on the war.
Our media has really let us down this time around when it comes to real coverage of the issues. I believe the giant corporations who advertise are pulling the strings more than the media producers.
Glad to see you back Kilgore.
Oh I was never really gone, I’ve been checking in fairly regularly I’ve just been very busy and didn’t have time to comment. Hopefully I’ll have more time now at least for a while.
Glad to have you back Kilgore. Cerebral is taking a break now and is working on another project. So he won’t be around for a while. I always look forward to your comments. Welcome back.
I thought the quality of writing seemed better but I couldn’t put my finger on why… Just Kidding Cerebral.
I missed the debates. Shame on me! I am concerned, though, about control and filters. Who decided which videos to show and why; which videos not to show and why? And just what do “they” stand for (their paid position politically, showmanship-wise) when this selection was undertaken? I suspect the process which is called slanting did happen. Maybe “they” was a computer — but still with human-selected input.
Hey guys, just coming in to show I am still alive. Damn you Kilgore, that was a good one. Anyways, you guys take care and hopefully I will be back soon. Until, then keep killing them.
Cererbal