Amid bright lights and heavy-duty filming equipment, Jessica Cole ’08, Phillipian News Director Jack Dickey ’09, Alexander Heffner ’08 and Harvard freshman Prateek Kumar ’07 fielded questions in a CNN panel discussion taped Wednesday in the library’s Freeman Room to be aired in the coming weeks. The four PA students discussed their involvement in Scoop08 and the upcoming national election with Emmy award-winning host Rick Sanchez. Scoop08.com, the brainchild of co-founders Heffner and Andrew Mangino, a junior at Yale, is an online political magazine written by high school students from across the United States and abroad. The panel discussion will air as an upcoming segment in the CNN television series entitled “The League of First Time Voters.” Described as “a resource to learn about elections basics,” the weekly reports look at pivotal campaign issues such as health care, immigration, the war in Iraq and the economy, through a series of interviews and discussions with first-time voters. Jason Morris, Producer of “The League of First Time Voters,” said, “[The series] covers people who are voting for the first time. For example, we’ve traveled from Phoenix, Arizona, where we spoke with people about immigration laws, to Penn State University, where we interviewed students who will be voting for the first time in the 2008 election. Next week, we will be heading off to Miami where we will be interviewing first-time Cuban-American voters.” Also present at the panel discussion were Scoop08 managing editor Sarah Kneezle, a senior at Emerson College in Boston, and reporter Alexander Katz, a resident of nearby Newton, Massachusetts and student at Gann Academy. Wednesday was the first time she and Katz met any of the other Scoop08 members face to face. Kneezle said, “I hadn’t met anyone [before the discussion]. . . all of our interaction is done online . . . it just speaks to what technology can really do.” Throughout the discussion, students analyzed the impact of technology on young voters. Katz said, “Technology has definitely made it easier for young voters to shape independent views.” Kumar agreed, “Technology has allowed youth not only to communicate on a variety of issues and to spread news quickly, but to organize effectively and actually make a difference on the ground.” Kumar continued, “Young people in our country want to hear plans from our presidential candidates for passing Social Security reform, immigration reform and dealing with the Iraq War, among other issues.” Katz spoke of idealism in youths, a “side-effect of being young,” and how initiating a draft for the Iraq War would influence the youth vote. Focusing on a global scale, Cole called attention to international opinion of the United States. She mentioned how, as a country, we need to “consider other nations” and “work with soft power,” as opposed to “brute force.” “I think that it’s crucial, regardless of our actions, that we pursue in the world beyond 2008 a cognizant approach to world affairs, and that we realize that unilateralism is not the most sustainable option,” Cole later said. Afterward, Heffner described how he came across the CNN “League of First Time Voters” series. “After [previous personal interviews with the network], I continued to chat with CNN and encouraged them to possibly take a look at Scoop08,” he said. According to Morris, after host Sanchez took a look at the Scoop08 website, he was enthusiastic about interviewing the students. The Scoop08 discussion was the first with high school students, according to Morris. In general, Heffner felt that the discussion went well. “Overall, I felt that the panel discussion was very successful and composed of some very talented and articulate students,” he continued. Kumar added, “I was very excited about the opportunity to speak with my peers before a large audience about what is driving the youth movement that we are seeing in the current election cycle, and what the implications of this movement might be for future elections.” Cole was also thrilled with the opportunity. “I was definitely nervous beforehand, but I left feeling excited. I have had informal political discussions before, and as part of the ‘Andover experience’ I have learned how to defend [my opinions] at dinner table discussions, but I had never done anything on live television before.” In the panel discussion, host Sanchez also mentioned the possibility of publishing a book about “people who have been reenergized in the voting system.” Heffner said, “There is a tremendous amount of interest both in the mainstream world and the publishing world. I think CNN’s idea is excellent, and on behalf of Scoop08 and with the intention of further publicizing our work, I have further brainstormed book ideas that would include Scoop08 reporting from all the way back in November up to the present.” Regardless, all of the panelists will still have the opportunity to shine in the near future. Heffner said, “I think that as the narrative shifts to the national election and the focus moves towards the youth vote, we at Scoop08 may be seeing more attention, and we are definitely excited about that possibility.”
