Via Marc Ambinder, the University of Nevada student who asked the "diamonds or pearls?" question last night says CNN made her do it. On her MySpace page, the student, Maria Luisa, says she's been getting angry emails about the question. She really wanted to ask about Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste, but since the candidates had already discussed that somewhat, they wanted her to go with one of the more "lighthearted" questions she had been asked to come up with.
Every single question asked during the debate by the audience had to be approved by CNN. 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.
And:
CNN ran out of time and used me to "close" the debate with the pearls/diamonds question. Seconds later this girl comes up to me and says, "you gave our school a bad reputation.' Well, I had to explain to her that every question from the audience was pre-planned and censored. That's what the media does. See, the media chose what they wanted, not what the people or audience really wanted. That's politics; that's reality. So, if you want to read about real issues important to America--and the whole world, I suggest you pick up a copy of the Economist or the New York Times or some other independent source. If you want me to explain to you how the media works, I am more than happy to do so. But do not judge me or my integrity based on that question.
Ah, old media pushes smart, young college student to perpetuate the inanity of their debates, and the student uses new media to push back. A beautiful story, really.
--Kate Sheppard
