CNN's town hall format is the cable news network at its best -- and worst

Vox

"There’s a reason CNN has latched onto the town hall format in the wake of Trump’s victory: They allow the network to continue to portray itself as the fundamentally rational center of American politics," says By Todd VanDerWerff. "And, honestly, if that’s how CNN sees itself, then it could do worse than setting up town hall events. Sometimes, they’re riveting, and they’re always at least interesting. They also allow for a wider variety of political viewpoints than you might hear on other news programs, which stack their rosters with talking point-enabled pundits." But VanDerWerrff adds that "I sometimes wonder if CNN hasn’t ultimately outwitted itself with these town halls" because they make it easy for Fox News to question whether the participants are actually genuine, like the mini-scandal over "scripted" questions -- which CNN blamed a "doctored" email for helping fuel.