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Candidates work hard to connect with young voters

By: Ellie Seta <[email protected]>

Sitting at her usual lunch table with a few of her closest friends, junior Leah Elston eats her typical cafeteria lunch. Murmurs of gossip fill the table as Elston and her friends chat about their upcoming weekends plans, the latest celebrity breakup or next period’s history test; all of which are topics of conversation typical of a high school student’s lunch table.

Elston admits that she and her friends rarely talk about politics or anything regarding government issues. “My friends and I just don’t really like to talk about that kind of stuff,” Elston said. During the 2004 presidential election, many new campaigns were created in hopes of increasing the voting turnout of citizens ages 18 to 29. These campaigns include Sean “P. Diddy” Combs’ “Vote or Die” campaign, “Rock the Vote” and MTV’s “Choose or Lose.”

Despite efforts, the voter turnout still has not risen as much as hoped. While voting turnout has risen significantly in recent years, candidates still struggle to find effective ways to continue to connect with the teenage audience.

According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), strategies such as e-mail, text messaging, online social networking and other new technologies are new ways candidates are using to reach young voters.

Brian Spilbeler, WHJE station manager and communications teacher, said that the politicians must change the way they share their messages with young voters if they want to continue to increase voter involvement.

“If teens were given the choice of watching a political debate on TV or a reality TV show they would choose to watch the reality TV show,” Spilbeler said. “So, the media must find a way to reach them in a more interesting way. What they are doing now is promoting celebrity endorsements.”

Today’s political candidates have begun to embrace new of media involvement. Now, every presidential candidate in the 2008 election has created his or her own MySpace or Facebook page, containing information about themselves and their views on certain issues concerning our country today. Also, web sites such as YouTube have aired political debates and other such videos, which are easily accessible to young voters.

Harold “Hal” Espey, CHTV adviser and communications teacher, said he agrees with Spilbeler’s statement regarding displaying information for teens in a more creative way. “Not many teens watch mainstream news programs,” Espey said. “Where they get their information is through programs that combine factual information with more entertaining elements,” he said.

Cable television programs such as the “Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show” try to do just that. Both of these comedy shows display political information in an entertaining and comedic way, while they are not always the most factual source, it still gets the point across.

Elston said that she admits to liking these comedy shows more than the news. “I love watching these shows. They so much more enjoyable to watch than the news,” Elston said.

“Unfortunately teens have an apathetic attitude in terms of voting and other political concerns, this is taking their attention off of voting,” Spilbeler said. Spilbeler also said that teens do not like being told what to do, which is another reason why he said the media is not getting through to teens about voting and political awareness.

Senior Reed Taylor also said that teens have a very apathetic attitude toward voting and politics. “Regardless of what the media tries to promote teens today don’t feel like they make an impact,” said Taylor. Taylor, who plans on pursuing a career in law, is also registered to vote and plans on voting in the upcoming 2008 election.

“I really only listen to politics or political campaigns if I feel that what they are talking about really affects me,” said Elston.

“When problems arise that directly affect young people and the problems become first hand and more real, then I think they might start to pay attention and ask ‘What are our leaders doing?’ and do something about it,” said Espey.

But Taylor said that it is not entirely teens’ fault. He said that the media could do a better job of providing information. “I think that the media could do a better job of showing both sides of a political candidate, the positives and the negatives,” Reed said. “The media can spin it anyway they want,” Harris said. “But the important thing is to decide for yourself.”

But Espey said that it is not entirely the media’s responsibility to promote voting and certain candidates. “The idea behind the media having a role in the government is by informing the public,” Espey said. “They do not tell you who to vote for but rather question a certain public figure’s importance.”

Spilbeler said the bottom line is that teens need to acknowledge what is going on and do something to change it, and to not rely on the media to tell us what we should believe or do. He also said that in terms of voting young people should stay involved.

“Teens are somewhat complacent,” Spilbeler said. “When things are going okay then they are not concerned about their political leaders because they don’t have anything to complain about.” “In the end it is your choice,” said Elston. “Ultimately, you must make your own decision.”

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    MichaelJan 14, 2009 at 12:11 am

    Leah Elston is my girlfriend, she is also a babe. I’m glad you interviewed her, because she loves to talk. Thanks for your time.

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