NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Can YouTube Save Democracy?
Can YouTube Save Democracy?
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000868.html
The stage was something out of a bad dream -- a gaudy combination of
the center ring at a circus and the mothership from "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind." I kept expecting a small clown car
to come whizzing on stage at any moment, and for a score of tiny gray
aliens to rapidly emerge.
The seven participants arrayed along the platform spouted talking
points from carefully memorized scripts, with nary a genuine argument
between them, while their interrogator lobbed queries of national and
global importance: "Elvis or Johnny Cash?" "Coke or Pepsi?" "Leno or
Conan?" "Deep dish or thin crust?" At one point, the discourse
deteriorated to an apparent contest between who could boast of having
the most children (foster or otherwise).
And somewhere, the late Don Hewitt, who directed the first
Kennedy/Nixon debate in 1960, was probably spinning in his grave.
CNN's GOP Presidential Debate last Monday evening was a study in the
worst sort of coupling between politics and show business, an
entertainment venue masquerading as a news program, the embodiment of
Paddy Chayefsky's 1976 "Network" satire materialized as a
sickening reality.
Of course, with seven presidential aspirants competing for air time
during the show, the opportunities for real debate were safely
suppressed from the word go. And after all, CNN (who spent the
weekend prior to the program hawking the expense and complexity of the
staging, even showing the construction repeatedly in time lapse),
wanted to get the most entertainment impact bang for their bucks.
Post-debate pundits suggested that none of the participants had too
badly screwed up, especially given the low expectations in place.
Nobody started stammering in confusion, drooling was kept to a
minimum, and fortuitously for the would-be presidents, nobody was
asked the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow -- or about favorite
colors, for that matter (how did CNN debate moderator John King miss
that last question, I wonder, given his other penetrating inquiries?)
In the end, as expected, the "debate" was more carnival sideshow than
pre-presidential performance. The ratings were reasonably rad, but
the value was virtually vacuous.
It seems ironic that at this point in the 21st century, we're still
mainly relying on this archaic formula for learning about presidential
candidates, especially this early in an election cycle where too many
cooks on camera really do seriously spoil the broth.
Most candidates have now learned the value of services like YouTube to
widely disseminate their own purpose-built "commercials" to potential
voters.
Live versions of these services are now becoming mainstream. Devices
like Google TV (and others) can easily stream such Internet-based
programming to the same screens where CNN and other conventional
channels would traditionally be viewed in households.
It would make enormous sense for us to devote considerable effort
toward leveraging YouTube and other live Internet streaming systems
toward the production of many more, but individually less "crowded,"
genuine debates, with politicians' feet held at least a bit more to
the fire by the real-time feedback of viewers.
This would not be a panacea by any means. Most politicians can't
resist the urge to try turn any camera or mic into an opportunity to
parrot their party lines. But there exists at least the real
possibility that the elimination of many time and expense issues
associated with traditional television, would provide far more
opportunities for a variety of truly substantive Internet-based "get
to know the candidates" debates and other formats, with far less
pressure for the sorts of theatrics that turned the CNN "debate" stage
into a performance that the casual viewer might have mistaken for a
"Saturday Night Live" sketch.
Our need for actual, meaningful knowledge regarding those persons who
seek to lead this country is too important to be left at the hands of
"style over substance" productions as exemplified by Monday's sordid
CNN spectacle.
And who knows, with the range of opportunities that would be opened
through the ever broadening use of YouTube toward the goal of a
serious and engaged democratic process, there might even be time for
those in-depth interviews where we could ultimately explore such
critical queries as preferred pizza crusts, beloved colors, and even
the velocity of those unladen swallows -- be they Democratic,
Republican, African, or European!
There is still time to save democracy from the creatures
in the clown cars.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
Google Buzz: http://j.mp/laurenbuzz
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com