Online Democratic 'mashup' draws 1 million

ONLINE DEMOCRATIC 'MASHUP' DRAWS 1 MILLION
[SOURCE: Associated Press]
An experimental online "mashup" -- a build-your-own Democratic presidential debate -- attracted more than 1 million viewers in the last 10 days. But one of the most popular participants wasn't a candidate. Four questions were posed to each of eight candidates, one question being a "wild card" posed by comedian Bill Maher. His questions were watched 42% of the time -- more than the others, which were on Iraq, education and healthcare and were posed by PBS host Charlie Rose. Maher quizzed the hopefuls about topics including the Ten Commandments; marijuana legalization; the relative dangers of sugar, coal dust and terrorism; and the climate-changing effect of cows. Yahoo, HuffingtonPost.com and Slate.com conceived the format as a way to give online viewers the ability to build a debate with video blocks of each candidate answering questions. The clips were recorded two weeks ago and were posted Sept. 13 at debates.news.yahoo.com. Viewers can choose the candidates they want to see and hear, match them against a rival, and compare and contrast.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-mash24sep24,1,1666297.story?coll=la-news-a_section
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