Following his State of the Union address next week, President Obama will sit down for separate interviews with three YouTube celebrities on three separate sets provided by Internet giant Google.
The “YouTube creators,” fashionista Bethany Mota, comedienne GloZell and self-described nerd Hank Green will question the president on Thursday after his address on Tuesday. Their questions will be culled from social media, according to the Obama White House blog.
The decision to submit to three 5-10 minute interviews with YouTube personalities shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Obama White House has regularly used Google since 2010 as a means to sell the public on policy initiatives announced during the addresses before Congress and the nation.
“The [White House] is already trying to mix it up with this year’s [State of the Union], by going out on the road ahead of time laying out policy ideas. Not surprising they’d add this social media component to it,” Huffington Post White House reporter Jen Bendery told the Washington Examiner on Thursday.
However, during a briefing Thursday, at least one member of the White House press corps expressed irritation at Obama’s plans to grant exclusive interviews to YouTube celebrities.
“These folks who are going to be conducting these interviews: None of them are professional journalists. They’re people who post videos on YouTube,” CNN’s Jim Acosta said.
“I’m just curious: Was ‘Charlie Bit my Finger’ or ‘David After Dentist’ not available?” he added, referring to two viral YouTube videos involving candid remarks made by children.
The White House blog described the upcoming YouTube interviews, saying “After President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday, January 20, he’s once again turning to YouTube to discuss the policies laid out in the speech and answer your questions. This continues efforts by the president and his administration to speak directly to the American people online, and we’re always looking for new ways to do just that.”
Mota, GloZell and Green “will interview President Obama about the issues care they most about and what they’re hearing from their audiences,” the blog said.
The White House suggested readers follow the White House’s official YouTube account and submit questions with the hashtag “#YouTubeAsksObama” to Obama’s interviewers.
