YouTube and CNN have announced plans to host two presidential debates. The debates will feature video questions from YouTube users, which will be broadcast and answered by the presidential hopefuls on CNN.
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The Democratic debate will take place at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina from 7:00 to 9:00 PM (ET), on Monday, July 23. The Republican debates will take place from 7:00 to 9:00 PM (PT), on Monday, September 17, in Florida.
CNN will produce the event and will select questions used in the debates. YouTube will select users to be in the live audience. YouTube users can submit their questions starting today.
“YouTube enables voters and candidates to communicate in a way that simply was not possible during the last election,” said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube.
“For the first time in the history of presidential debates, voters from around the country will be able to ask the future president of the United States a question in video form and hear the answer.”
YouTube will carry debate coverage on their “You Choose ’08” platform and their Citizentube political channel before and after the debates.
“These debates take the bold step of embracing the ever-increasing role of the Internet in politics,” said Jim Walton, CNN Worldwide president. “The inclusion of the massive online community enables these debates to engage more viewers — and potential voters — than ever before.”
