YouTube integration will ‘democratize’ presidential debates since...

e-mail or other conduits, YouTube editor Steve Grove said. CNN and YouTube will host 2 presidential debates, moderated by Anderson Cooper -- a July 23 Democratic debate at the Citadel in Charleston, S.C., and a Sept. 17 Republican debate in Fla., CNN Pres. Jonathan Klein said. The DNC sanctioned the Democratic debate; the RNC has not done so for the Sept. 17 debate, he said. Location details for the Republican debate are coming soon, Bohrman said. Users will upload 30-second videos to YouTube, with CNN exercising control over which questions are used in debate, he said. Questions, not to be revealed beforehand, will not be picked on the basis of user ratings or popularity, he said. CNN wants “trigger questions” and queries more inventive than someone talking to the camera, he said. The 2-hour Charleston debate likely will include 20-30 YouTube questions, Bohrman said. Debate moderator Cooper will introduce clips, then give candidates a chance to answer, he said. CNN chose YouTube to host video submissions because “they are great at handling significant amounts of [uploaded] video,” Bohrman said: “We're going to take advantage of that sort of plumbing infrastructure that they have.” CNN.com will link to the videos from its website, he said. YouTube doesn’t have to take special steps to support the uploads, YouTube CEO Chad Hurley said: “We're already dealing with streaming hundreds of millions of videos on a daily basis and we're prepared.”