Pundits, bloggers, and public intellectuals from across the political spectrum have spoken, and CNN is the first major network to listen: on Saturday, the company issued a media advisory announcing that “CNN debate coverage will be made available without restrictions at the conclusion of each live debate.” The network went on to say, “We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process. This decision will apply to all of CNN’s presidential debates, beginning with the upcoming New Hampshire debates in June.”
The day before CNN made its announcement, Democratic presidential hopeful Chris Dodd joined Barack Obama, John Edwards, and others in calling on DNC Chairman Howard Dean to insist that all of the major networks permit similarly unrestricted public use of the videos. So far, both the DNC and RNC are remaining silent on the issue, as are all of the GOP presidential contenders including and Hillary Clinton.
The rising chorus of requests for the liberation of the debate footage, when coupled with the black eye that MSNBC has suffered over its attempts to impose draconian restrictions on the use of its debate footage, probably went a long way toward convincing CNN to give up the goods.
Score one for Greater Blogistan, and I look forward to seeing the humorous remixes and parodies posted on YouTube in the wake of each debate. Now the big question is, will other media outlets follow suit?
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