As part of MTV’s Choose or Lose campaign to spark young voters, MTV has been airing a series of “Choose or Lose” specials on various topics ranging from gay marriage to job outsourcing. These shows have examined problems in new and nonpartisan ways. For example, one installment documented the process of how one American’s job as a call center worker was transferred to India, how they trained the new Indian workers for the job and how wide the gap is between how much an American and an Indian get paid for the same job. In another episode, the show’s coverage of gay marriage discussed the various sides of the debate with fairness.
MTV should be commended not only for setting an admirable goal of getting 20 million 18 to 30-year-olds to vote in the upcoming presidential election, but also for providing the tools necessary for voters to make an informed decision – something the music industry-inspired voter registration group Rock the Vote has been lax in doing recently. Registering voters and showing advertisements does not get deep into issues, while voter information guides tend to be ignored. If anyone has the ability to take complex, potentially boring issues and make them interesting to younger voters, it is MTV.
Although other networks might not be able to present the issues with the flash and glamor MTV does, they should still be working on presenting issues to college students as well as other members of their audience. Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” emerged during the Iowa Caucuses as the top evening news source for 18 to 34-year-old males. The 2000 presidential election also saw “Saturday Night Live” emerge as a source of information on the presidential candidates.
“The Daily Show” and “SNL” can be valuable sources on politics occassionally, but much of their information should be taken with a grain of salt. The major networks have greater resources and credibility to present important issues to voters, especially college constituents. MTV, Comedy Central or “SNL” simply cannot bridge that gap and should not be expected to. It is up to these networks to make a greater effort to engage college voters as well as the rest of their audience with detailed, accurate reporting on the important issues in a presidential campaign. To do otherwise insults the intelligence of all voters.
