CNN/Youtube Republican Debate Question: Functional Literacy

Barbara Warnick is Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh.

Professor Warnick’s op-ed on the CNN-YouTube debates appeared in the July 29, 2007 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle.

This is a good question because the number of people in this country who are functionally illiterate is too high. The Republicans have mandated “No Child Left Behind” but have largely offloaded the cost of this program and its governance onto the states. Much money that could and should be spent on education is instead being channeled to the War in Iraq. No Child Left Behind is viewed by many as not very successful. So, this question puts the Republican respondents pretty much on the spot. I will be interested to hear their answer if the question is used.

One criticism I have of the video is that the questioner is wearing a t-shirt that is emblazoned with the following phrase “I am not an alcoholic.” Since people tend to pay attention to visuals over what they hear, the presence of this message is a distraction and is confusing. The viewers might expect the speaker to talk about alcoholism, not education. So, that may be a problem.

The use of the YouTube format “probably” in the Democratic “debate” increased viewership and interest in the “debates” (they are not debates.) It also might have drawn more of the youth audience. I have not done research on the results for the “debate” at the Citadel yet, but I will be interested to see some numbers on this.