Taking Rupert's Cash

The recipient is MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, and I'm sure he'll be real independent.

The YouTube debate, meanwhile, is so last week.

I mean, who needs television in the video age?

Why not just put the whole thing online? Round up the snowman, the guy in the Viking helmet, the guy with his "baby" rifle, and anyone else who wants to quiz the presidential candidates, and have at it.

What CNN did last week was marry the interactivity of the Web to the reach of a national television network. But as we've seen with "Obama Girl" and other viral videos, the Net has a pretty incredible reach on its own. (Reality check: it reaches only those people who hang out online and not, say, my mother, who doesn't have a computer.)

A related question, whether it's on the tube or on the laptop, is how many debates these candidates are going to hold. (The Democrats debate endlessly, while the Republicans--who will face off Sunday on the Stephanopoulos show--haven't even agreed to another Anderson Cooper/YouTube extravaganza.) Isn't there a risk of overexposure? Won't they be recycling their applause lines before long? Can John Edwards risk another crack about Hillary's dress?

I raise all this because three Web sites have just announced a new cyber-debate. Arianna explains:

"In his column about the CNN/YouTube debates for the Guardian, Jeff Jarvis wrote: 'TV doesn't know how to have a conversation. TV knows how to perform.'

"I completely agree, and that's why the Huffington Post -- in partnership with Yahoo! and Slate -- is really happy to announce that we now have a date for the first-ever online-only presidential candidate mashup. The event is set for September 12. It will be moderated by Charlie Rose, and all eight Democratic candidates have agreed to take part (we are in discussions with the Republican campaigns for a GOP candidate mashup to follow later in the year).

"What's a candidate mashup? It's a new kind of campaign forum that will put you in charge of shaping exactly what kind of viewing experience you want to have -- from the questions that are asked to the way you can pick and choose the issues you want to hear about and the candidates you want to hear from.

"Here's how it will work: Charlie Rose, armed with questions you have sent in, will have a conversation with each of the candidates (more on these questions in a minute) . . .

"After the candidates have finished talking, the video will be coded and put at your disposal -- empowering you to create the candidate mashups of your choosing."