CNN First to Offer Restriction-Free Debates

This post was written by Ben Homer, a prospective NewTeeVee contributor. See his previous story on this topic from last Friday.

CNN this weekend became first news network to say it will remove all restrictions on footage of future presidential debates. The move follows a letter sent to news networks Thursday by Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards in support of a growing movement to end unnecessary regulation of political speech.

The network’s action stands as a powerful example of the influence of new media on political coverage in the broadband era. The democratization of media has changed the way political coverage is consumed. “We believe this is good for the country and good for the electoral process,” CNN writes in a Press Advisory.

Above: John Edwards’ ‘We The People’ ads capitalize on the democratization of media

Bloggers and independent content creators have been swift in their approbation, freed from the threat of DMCA takedowns eradicating the thousands of unlicensed political debate clips that currently exist online. When the CNN debates air, they will for the first time be able to legally edit and redistribute the statements that matter to them.

This decision sets an important precedent. Time Warner-owned CNN’s policy will apply to all future presidential debates the network airs. Now that the first news organization has committed to improving freedom of political speech online, it will be difficult for other networks not to follow suit.