Thursday, April 26, 2007

msnbc.com MSNBC.com's interactive feature, "Rate the Candidates," is part of the run-up to tonight's debate in S.C.

Last week I was in Los Angeles, where I was speaking at and attending the Knight New Media Center's seminar Covering Politics in Cyberspace. That was such a major brainfood festival, I've needed a few days to digest it enough to blog it. So this is the first of a few Tidbits posts related to that event.

Oddly, today -- as the first debate among the eight Democratic presidential contenders is upon us -- I realize that at the seminar the topic of covering the debates online never came up. (At least not in the sessions I attended, which was almost all of them.)

However, a team of prominent online operations does plan to host online debates -- not tonight, but sometime after Labor Day in September. The Huffington Post, Yahoo, and Slate will join forces to use the Internet to foster public participation and discourse with both Democratic and Republican candidates. AP reports that PBS host Charlie Rose will moderate.

Exactly how this effort will shape up remains to be seen. Personally, what I'd like to see would less resemble a live synchronous event, and more resemble an ongoing discussion -- such as those conducted in "panel blogs" like washingtonpost.com/Newsweek's On Faith and PostGlobal. (I mentioned those exemplary efforts in my seminar session on Tools of Engagement.)

For context, Chicago columnist Ray Hanania is very skeptical about this project. He makes some points worth considering for any debate coverage.

What about tonight's debate? MSNBC.com, which will be televising and webcasting the debates, is offering a special interactive Rate the Candidates feature.

Is your news organization planning to foster public conversation online during or after the debates? How will you accomplish that? Please comment below, and provide links so we can see what you're up to.

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