Point

Emma Claire Sohn: Blame the media for apathy

Last Tuesday I exercised my civic duty and voted in the Champaign City Council Primary. While it may not have been the most important ballot I’ve ever cast, it was an exercise in the right I maintain as a registered voter in the City of Champaign and a responsibility I am proud to uphold. The country was founded on the democratic decision process, and so I continue in that honorable tradition.

I arrived at my polling place at 6:45 p.m., just before the polls closed at 7 p.m. As I scrambled to get my ballot into its receptacle, I paused to take notice of how many of my peers had done the same – a whopping 25. Twenty-five votes over the course of nearly 12 hours? Why such a low turnout for an election which will directly effect my peers at the University?

Prior to leaving Tuesday night I embarked on a vast Google search looking for any and all information on the city council candidates. But much to my chagrin I found nada zip on the candidates’ stance on the issues. I couldn’t even find their respective political parties. The best I could find was remnants of an archived News Gazette story – which I could have had access to – if I coughed up seven bucks first. I did my best to cast an educated ballot but still was not completely confident in my decision. Less enthused voters were not only ill-informed on the candidates, but likely were unaware that an election was even being held. For this, and many other incidents of “apathetic” voting, I blame the media.

While in some cases like my own experience last Tuesday show the media’s lack of coverage perpetuates lazy voting habits, media misuse is often a bigger problem as political gossip becomes more important in coverage than the actual views. The 2006 midterm elections in our Prairie State prove this case in point. The slander coming from both sides of the gubernatorial race was ugly to say the least, causing many voters to vote for the Green Party candidate or not vote for the office at all.

The media are the watchdogs of our government. The founding fathers established this nation with the intent of providing each of its citizens with up to date news via an independent and unbiased media.

But when the media forfeits its integrity we lack the pertinent information we need in order to make educated decisions regarding our own well-being. When a citizen seeks information that the media cannot or will not provide, the democratic process inevitably fails.

However, the media’s responsibility in providing its audience with the knowledge required to cast an educated ballot is only valid if they have an active audience. Today is the final day to vote for your next student representatives, including student representative to the board of trustees. Take a few minutes to look at the Daily Illini’s coverage of each respective candidate.

Even read the endorsements of my fellow opinions writers if you’re so inclined. But in any case, take advantage of your civic responsibility and cast your ballot for someone who will actively represent your thoughts, beliefs and needs as an integral part of the University of Illinois.

Counterpoint

Brian Pierce: Fault of the public

Believe it or not, last Tuesday there was a primary election for Champaign City Council.

There are going to be a lot of people you will want to blame for not knowing about it, if, that is, you want to blame anybody at all.

Emma, my counterpoint, wants to blame the media. She argues, convincingly, that voters cannot be expected to vote in an election if said election has not been properly publicized by local TV news, news Web sites and newspapers like this one.

I don’t disagree, in the sense that of course media outlets have an obligation to report on upcoming elections. But it is important to recognize that the media is a function of its consumers’ interests, especially in the online, on-demand, “give me what I want when I want it” world we find ourselves in.

Mainstream media Web sites like msnbc.com now use a system of reporting in which news items that are clicked on the most move higher up on the page. In this way, news agencies are able to report primarily on what most of their readers are most interested in.

This is one example of the way media has been revolutionized with by the Internet. From YouTube to MySpace to the blogosphere, the way we consume information has been turned on its head. What was once a media empire controlled by elites and filtered through a handful of network television stations and newspaper conglomerates is now filtered through people just like me and you, if it’s filtered at all.

This is of course, a positive development in many ways, but its negative consequences should not go ignored, and one such consequence is that citizens will have to take more responsibility for the information they consume.

This has always been the case to a certain degree. “NBC Nightly News” has always cared about ratings and the New York Times has always done its best to boost circulation. That kind of reporting has been in part a consequence of consumer decisions.

But with so many barriers and filters breaking down in the media world, the consumer must take even more responsibility. In a world with more information that is more personally tailored and more accessible than ever, we must stop pointing the finger at anybody but ourselves when we don’t get the information we want.

This isn’t a condemnation of those who didn’t vote, or those who didn’t know there was a vote. If you don’t care that much about whom the winners of a Champaign City Council primary election are, I’m not going to hold it against you. They make decisions that may or may not be important to you, depending on how invested you are in smoking bans and other issues of local governance. I do not wish to go into hysterics over how a voter turnout hovering around 10 percent is a sad commentary on contemporary society.

All I’m saying is that if you do consider it a sad commentary, don’t pretend the comment is on the media. It is on you.