MTV, MySpace Partner on Presidential-Candidate Chats
Interactive Talks to Feature Edwards, Brownback, Clinton, Dodd, Giuliani, Hunter, McCain, Obama, Paul, Richardson, Romney
By Anne Becker -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/23/2007 2:42:00 AM MT
MTV and MySpace partnered for a series of live TV and online video chats between young adults and the presidential candidates.
This marks the first time the Viacom-owned cable network and the News Corp.-owned social-networking site have partnered.
The hour-long interactive talks will take place at colleges and run on MTV and its sister cable channel, college-targeted mtvU, and online at MySpaceTV and MTV.com. All of the major Democratic and Republican candidates have signed on, MTV and MySpace said.
The first chat will run Sept. 27 with former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) in New Hampshire. Other candidates who have signed on include Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.), Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
MTV viewers and MySpace users can submit questions for the candidate during the sessions through e-mail, text message and MySpace's instant-message feature, MySpaceIM.
"For years, young people have trusted MTV to inform and engage them on the issues that matter most, from politics to sexual health to the environment," MTV president Christina Norman said in a statement. "We're extremely proud to partner with MySpace on our always evolving, Emmy-winning 'Choose or Lose' campaign as we join forces and empower our audiences to connect with presidential candidates in a much more meaningful way."
“These presidential dialogues will bring individual candidates directly to voters, one at a time,” MySpace cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe said in a statement. “We are lowering the barriers to entry, setting a high-water mark for direct engagement between presidential candidates and average Americans.”
The chats are part of MTV's well-known "Choose or Lose" public-affairs initiative. Students can register to be in the audience at the dialogues by "friending" their profile on MySpace or having their online video questions chosen on MTV.com.
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