The Young Turks films at USC!
by Ayman Siraj ‘18
The Young Turks, a progressive left-leaning political commentary web show filmed live on campus this last Monday, the 12th of September. Filming occurred at the new Annenberg building atrium. The show has erupted online over the years as they address issues not given airtime by the mainstream news media.
The panel featured Cenk Uygur (the founder of TYT), Nando Vila (Vice President of Programming of Fusion TV). The show was hosted by Ana Kasparian along John Iadarola.
TYT t-shirts (free swag) was given out to students who were in the audience before the taping began. The taping was MC’d by the very charismatic Jayar Jackson.
The show taped for about a hour and a half with a 10 minute web exclusive preshow followed by the hour long live broadcast on Fusion. The first 20 minutes of the broadcast can be found online at this link here.
The show was divided into
four segments and in each segment issues relevant to the elections were discussed
– college debt, global warming, legalization of marijuana and the millennial generation.
One of the questions the taping tried to address was, ‘Does your vote count?’ In the segment the panelists explain although one vote would not swing an election but if millennials came out and voted, they could collectively make a difference. The show pointed out the percentage of young age voters voting was significantly less than for older age demographics.
Another interesting assertion that was discussed was, ‘Which generation is smarter?’ The consensus was that since millennials have access to so much information at their fingertips on their cellphones; millennials are well versed at events or can become at the touch of a button, while many of the older generation had to go to the library to get such information.
Towards the end of the taping, students were given a chance to ask questions. A few of the questions asked were, What advice would you have to undecided college going voters on deciding who to vote for given that the candidate’s policies could affect them when they enter the workforce? Why has the Hillary campaign not gone on the offensive like the Trump campaign has?
The panel stuck around after the taping ended to answer questions and take pictures from eager students who were clearly excited that they were seeing these YouTube stars in front of their own eyes. The taping was the first of twelve as TYT makes a tour around college campuses around the US in the lead up to the elections. They will be joined by special guests along the way.
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