CNN/YouTube Special Features Liberal Videos Disproportionately

On Monday night, CNN aired a special hour promoting the upcoming "CNN/YouTube" presidential debates. CNN is encouraging viewers to record their questions for the presidential candidates and post them on YouTube.com. In anticipation of this historic event, hosts John Roberts and Kiran Chetry shared just a few of the thousands of video submissions CNN has already received. Of the videos aired on Monday, a disproportionate number were distinctly liberal. Of the 19 individual videos shown (excluding some brief, zany clips), 10 were politically neutral, 8 were liberal or critical of conservative and/or Republican policies, and only 1 was clearly conservative.

Video (1:54): Real (1.39 MB) or Windows (1.16 MB), plus MP3 audio (652 kB) 

Over the course of the special, CNN chose to air two video questions regarding the threat of Global Warming. Interestingly, both submissions featured adults holding small children. Nathan Roberts, surrounded by his four children, posed this question to the presidential candidates: "And with the ill effects of Global Warming being felt throughout the Earth, my question is, how are you going to save the Earth..." His four children followed suit saying, "For me..and me...and me...and me."

Less than ten minutes later, Chetry introduced another video from an environmentally concerned viewer. The woman, identified as Barbara Gonzales, is coddling her infant son, Asa. Gonzales dramatically explains,

Nothing will have a greater impact on Asa’s future and the future of all kids than the world’s ability to deal with global warming...What are you proposing to do that is bold and why should I put Asa’s future in your hands?

Other videos aired by CNN expressed the importance of raising the minimum wage and the need for "low cost or free preventative medicine." One video, addressed to Hillary Clinton, asked if Bill had remained faithful since leaving the White House. Surprisingly, the questioner was not so concerned with the Senator’s personal life, but rather how Clinton might respond to challengers raising the issue.

Senator Clinton, I think you would make a great president, but there’s a question that deserves to be answered before the end of the primaries, because it could effect your ability to run against a strong Republican. Has your husband, Bill Clinton, engaged in adulterous behavior since he’s left office? How do you plan to address the issue, whether real or trumped up, by people that would demean your character by trying to imply that your marriage is politically convenient?

Of the 19 individual videos aired during the hour-long special, only one of them could be called unmistakably conservative: a humorous country music video poking fun at high taxes.