"Every single question asked during the debate by the audience had to be approved by CNN"

[kpete]

Maria Luisa, the UNLV student who asked Hillary Clinton whether she preferred "diamonds or pearls" at last night's debate wrote on her MySpace page this morning that CNN forced her to ask the frilly question instead of a pre-approved query about the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

"Every single question asked during the debate by the audience had to be approved by CNN," Luisa writes. "I was asked to submit questions including "lighthearted/fun" questions. I submitted more than five questions on issues important to me. I did a policy memo on Yucca Mountain a year ago and was the finalist for the Truman Scholarship. For sure, I thought I would get to ask the Yucca question that was APPROVED by CNN days in advance."

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/11/diamond_v_pearl_student_blasts_1.php

[Selatius]

1. That's not freedom of speech.

If I were there, I would've asked this: "What is your position corporate media consolidation? Do you agree or disagree that there is too much corporate consolidation over the information waves? Do you recommend enforcement of anti-trust laws?"

[backscatter712]

2. God, I hate the media!

We really need to break out guillotines and have a purge of all the Goebbels wannabes...

[bdamomma]

5. the media is another accomplice of the * regime.

they (the media) needs to be held accountable.

[backscatter712]

7. Exactly.

My advice to the media moguls, remember what happened to Julius Streicher...

[Swamp Rat]

3. Corporate Noise Network

[NightWatcher]

4. and every question was vetted through the corporate gods as well

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2287613&mesg_id=2287613

"clean coal to sponsor debate on CNN"

[Clark2008]

6. They "forced" her?

I would have asked whatever I wanted. It was live - what would CNN have done? Called in Shrub's jack-booted thugs to kick me out? Maybe, but that also would have been on live TV.