I think it's useful (and the court of public usage, even in relatively high-status things like national news broadcasts) agrees. "Raise the question" isn't as e

I think it's useful (and the court of public usage, even in relatively high-status things like national news broadcasts) agrees. "Raise the question" isn't as emphatic as the new "wrong" usage of "beg the question" is. Begging is stronger, more insistent, than just asking for something or inviting something. People use "beg the question" when they're trying to say that a situation just BEGS for a given question to be asked.