Election 2008: Where do College Students get their News?

With the exponentially increasing forms of media, following elections devotedly now more than ever has become easier than you might even like. In my own non-scientific poll taken by over one hundred college students, more than seventy-five percent said they not only cared about the election, but either tried to follow it or followed it avidly.

Of those who followed the election, about sixty-three percent of students polled used television as one of their news sources, followed by online news coverage which fifty-seven percent used. Only fourteen percent of the students polled pick up a newspaper to follow the race, while five percent listened to the radio.

By far, CNN’s election coverage seemed to be the most commonly watched on television while also being one of the most popular websites to visit. University of Massachusetts senior Deyandre Thaston uses both the online and television outlets of CNN. “I think it might just be the first that comes to mind. All news, people kind of put their own opinion or spin on it, but it’s just a major news source.”

Other students remain skeptical about what they hear on television. UMass junior Gregory Meccouri says he doesn’t believe anywhere near as much as he hears on TV. “It depends on the source. I usually don’t watch TV because I don’t believe a lot of what they say, because they’re trying to get ratings.” Meccouri says he uses sites online to find his news because it’s the most convenient. “Just because of my lifestyle, you know? I’m always on my computer, and I don’t really watch much TV.”

That seems to be a trend with many college students. The ease of maneuvering from one source to another on a machine most students use daily makes computers a vital tool for getting the news. UMass junior Leila Khelfaour also uses the web to find most of her election coverage so that, she says, “I can, myself, search for sources and not rely on the media. I don’t believe the media.”

As far as believing what they’re hearing, student’s have opinions varying from 10% to 90%. UMass junior UMass Shane Coleman also remained skeptical about what he hears, saying he only believes about 50% of what he hears – even from the media sources he chooses to follow.

UMass senior Jake Pearlstein says how much he believes in what a media source is telling him varies from site to site. “It depends on which of the links that I’ve connected to. If it goes to say, the New York Times or something like that, then I’m going to likely believe it as a credible source. If it’s sort of a smaller town newspaper or something like that, it may not be as accurate.” Pearlstein likes media aggregates such as Yahoo, saying, “It’s my homepage, so that’s where stories pop up immediately, and then the fact that it will link you to a bunch of different print stories.”

UMass sophomore Melissa Urban is one of the few students still reading newspapers to get the bulk of her election knowledge. “I read the Times a lot and it’s great because through the program at the school you can get free newspapers. I like it because, as opposed to the Globe, it’s covers the entire country more than just Massachusetts.”

According to the survey, most students look for reliability and non-bias in their news sources, rather than material they just agree with. Leila Khelfaour says, “It’s really easy to see biases with me. I think that regardless of whatever side you’re on or what your opinion is, people just try to push their opinion too much and don’t try to show a different point of view. I think that’s especially in the United States. We tend to only look at one side of things.”

Deyandre Thaston doesn’t necessarily look for reliability; however she says she pays attention, “if it’s relevant to issues pertaining to me. I mean, I don’t care about some things, but if it’s important to what the election stands for and where we’re heading, then that matters.”

In this world of new technology, Deyandre can get her wish. With all the new forms of media, especially online, candidates have even more ways of getting to this generation who, despite the perception of many, are following intently.

Political Clubs at UMass Campaign on Campus

With the presidential election less than a month away, it becomes crunch time for both campaigns in making their final push for victory. Both sides have launched television commercials, debates and speeches focused on impacting those many undecided potential voters who, ready or not, will step up to the polls and entrust their vote with one of the candidates.

On the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, both Democrat and Republican groups have spent the last month spreading the word of their representative by targeting the more ambivalent students whose vote could help get their candidate in office.

UMass Senior and President of the campus Republican Club, Greg Collins, often sits with his organization a couple times a week by an informational table marked by a “McCain/Palin” poster, handing out bumper stickers and talking to some undecided students. “A decent number of students stopped by our table in the Campus Center and asked us about getting McCain paraphernalia and such for themselves. They seem genuinely interested.” Collins and his club have also been invited to represent the Republican Party at various debates on campus, organized by RAs and The Daily Collegian.

Not only have they tried reaching the student body here on campus, but Collins says the club also moved off campus to various venues in order to help out the Senator John McCain’s campaign. “We phone banked last week in Springfield. We’re going to do that again tonight…We’re going to go to New Hampshire on October 18^th and go door to door campaigning.”

The UMass Democrat Club have also remained very active on and off campus over the past month by promoting voter registration. Emma Einhorn, a senior and member of the club says, “We’ve been doing so much voter registration. We have an event almost every day from now until the deadline.” The club has set up tables in the campus center and dining halls, while also visiting classrooms.

Einhorn says the club has also spent a fair share of their time doing off campus work, similar to that of the Republican Club. “We go up to New Hampshire every single weekend to campaign for Obama. We have a phone bank set up in Sunderland that works six days a week to make phone calls for Obama. I mean…just stuff, all the time.”

Both clubs disagree on how the economic crisis that has headlined the news for the past couple weeks is affecting students. Einhorn said that the problem isn’t creating any more political followers on campus, only because the students don’t fully understand the crisis. “It has been limited recently to the stock market, a region of the economy that students are not generally involved in. Also, students pay very little in taxes, so this issue, while very important and grave, does not affect politics on campus as it does elsewhere.”

Collins disagrees with Einhorn’s notion, but not completely. He feels as though other factors that surround students have helped spark the interest. “I would say the presence of Obama in general has excited some students more than any one particular election issue. Also, I hate to say it, but Saturday Night Live skits and Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert has also contributed heavily to the increased involvement with politics among students at this time – for better or for worse.”

As far as noticing interest among the students, both club’s representatives say it’s growing. Collin’s said, “There has definitely been an increase in political awareness this semester compared to my previous five semesters on campus…They seem genuinely interested, as do Democrats, (students and faculty alike) who have stopped by our table just to talk about the election in a civil manner.”

Einhorn further said, “There has been tons of excitement. Students see our table and start shouts and chants for their preferred candidate. Students are ready for this election, one that it will be the most important election of our lifetime and for many people including myself, it will be their first presidential election.”

College Students: A Growing Voter Demographic

For years, the 18 to 24-year-old voting demographic hasn’t been well represented come November, resulting in both campaigns rarely spending much time targeting them. However, with a growing number of students beginning to come alive in the election process, campaigns have been forced to tap into this newly interested market and utilize the internet to their advantage.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, around 12,122,000 citizens between the ages of 18 to 24 registered to vote in the 2000 presidential election. That made up about 50 percent of the demographics’ population. Of those registries, only 8,635,000 actually made it to the polls that year, a mere 36 percent of the entire group.

By the 2004 election, the numbers began to climb. A total of 14,334,000 members of the young demographic registered to vote, making up 57 percent of the population. More importantly, 11,639,000 of the 18 to 24-year-olds came out to vote, a total of 47 percent of the demographic. Information regarding who has registered for this election is not yet available, however due to the magnitude of this election and the efforts of both campaigns, it appears as though this trend of increasing involvement will continue.

For instance, campus groups at The College of William and Mary located in Williamsburg, VA believes they could get close to 3,000 students to register. According to Ian Brickey, a writer for William and Mary’s student news source The Flat Hat, groups such as the Student Assembly, Young Democrats and College Republicans have set up tables around campus with forms to allow students the chance to register in between classes or other activities. So far, an estimated 600-700 students have registered to vote, however the clubs expect many more before the deadline.

William and Mary is not the only Virginia college rallying voters before the election. According to Tamar Lewin of the New York Times, supporters of Senator Barack Obama signed up thousands of students on the campus by holding a voter-registration drive in early August.

So what does this mean for the candidates? With the increased involvement of 18 to 24-year-olds, campaigns will need up their focus on this demographic and focus on where to best get their attention. In the case of this age-group, it appears the internet may be the best medium.

Pew Internet’s American Life Project in 2002 compiled some compelling data regarding internet use. From the information gathered, Pew found that, “One-fifth (20 percent) of today’s college students began using computers between the ages of 5 and 8. By the time they were 16 to 18 years old all of today’s current college students had begun using computers – and the Internet was a commonplace in the world in which they lived.” Pew also found that 70 percent of college student check their email at least once a day, a number that has most likely gone up in the six years since the project was complete

According to my own non-scientific survey which accounts for over 100 college students, television is still where many college students get their election news, however online sources are a close second. Many students choose to use both sources, noting that what they hear on television has become less and less believable at times.

As far as candidate’s responses to the internet and the growing voter population of the student demographic, there has been progress. Facebook and MySpace pages of the candidates allow people to view their candidate’s interests and stances via some of the most popular sites of college students. They include trivial facts about the representative, political beliefs and updated campaign information. Overall the candidates seem to have adapted and pursued the correct venues, which is crucial considering it seems as though this demographic may be showing up in record numbers come November.