After watching the recent Republican Convention it really made me think about the intense role that communications plays in the outcome of our political process. I know that this may seem obvious, but for me it is a somewhat recent revelation. I have been volunteering and interning on campaigns for about two years now but I have always been working on the field side of things which consists of things like community organizing, making phone calls, knocking on doors, and planning events. This had kind of been my world in terms of political campaigns, but after recently switching to the digital side of the whole process I have seen the huge impact that communications media can have on public opinion, and ultimately on the polls.
I wanted to get into communications because I really believe that it is how we are going to see real change in our country. There are too many lies and misinterpretations constantly circulated about what is really going on and the policies that impact peoples’ daily lives. From speaking to voters, and especially young voters, I am convinced that if they only knew how decisions made in Washington were really affecting them they would not be so apathetic and not such easy targets for lies and attack ads. Another recent revelation for me has also been the way that misleading politicians really can say anything they want on TV, in an article, or on the radio, and people will most likely just believe it because they trust the source and it is extremely unfortunate that we cannot have more faith in our elected officials. I have definitely realized the importance of fact-checking and finding out for oneself the impact that the decisions politicians make on our behalf of us (as their constituents) have on our lives.
A lot of young people spend their young adult years trying to figure out how they can make a difference in their communities and in their country, and for me I know that contributing to advancements in the communications field is how I’m going to accomplish that.