The 11 most powerful moments from CNN's Parkland shooting town hall

"This is raw. This is authentic. This is dialogue."

The CNN town hall on school shootings.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Michael Laughlin/Pool)

CNN's powerful town hall on Wednesday, which followed last week's mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was praised by many Americans for the civility, dialogue, and candor that our political conversations so often lack. Moderated by Jake Tapper, Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action provided a forum for students, parents, and faculty of the high school to direct their questions and concerns directly, and often with heart-wrenching emotion, to Florida Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D), Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. (President Trump and Florida Gov. Rick Scott declined to participate.)

After the broadcast, CNN's Athena Jones tweeted: "Minds have been opened tonight ... and politicians have been tested, by teenagers." One America News Network's Trey Yingst raved: "This is raw. This is authentic. This is dialogue." Writing here at The Week, Lili Loofbourow said: "[U]ncomfortable confrontations like these, in which there is no conversion or resolution or repentance on either side, are real and instructive. We need to see many more of them."

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.