Gettin' Dizzy in the Spin Room

I wasn’t at the CNN Democratic Presidential debate in Los Angeles tonight between Senator Hilary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, but I was at the debate in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. At the Las Vegas venue the audience was all minorities, union members, and civil servants, since it was sponsored by the 100 Black Men organization and U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the College of Southern Nevada. In Hollywood, the cameras panned on all the celebrities and stars in the audience, but tonight they were just regular citizens like the rest of us, no matter the glitz and glamour. The real celebrities were the candidates and the spin was all about them.

After the debate in Las Vegas, I got a pass to the “spin room” (or "alley"). This is the venue after a major press event where the principles or their representatives, and their supporters gather the press around them to “spin” their version of the proceedings, and to make sure the media goes away with a notebook full of pithy quotes and hopefully some insight. It was my first time at such a venue and the art of spin was truly in full force. Members of the press corps were gathered in groups, some larger than others, around a lone speaker; the affiliation of each speaker identified by a campaign worker holding a wooden stake stapled to a sign denoting the candidate and his/her spokesperson. Elsewhere, endorsing politicians and organizations serving as surrogates for the candidates held similar court. Throughout the room, other campaign workers moved around with intent, pulling reporters from one group and another, hawking the benefits of talking to their particular spokesperson or surrogate.

While there seemed to be sufficient ethnic press, in vain I sought reporters or correspondents representing youth media. For all the talk about the excitement this presidential race has generated among young voters, I wondered where the voices reporting for this surge of civically minded youth were? Who would ask what candidates thought about how today’s generation of leaders is tackling the legacy of debt, global warming and global insecurity they’re leaving the next generation? How would the spin doctors respond to a young journalist from Youth Radio or Youth Outlook reporting to an audience of thousands of newly engaged young voters, capable of mobilizing multiples of thousands of others through SMS text, youTube video commentary, myspace or myBLOC networking? Do the campaigns even have a communications strategy to engage the growing numbers of independent young voices through media channels other than MTV or BET? Media endeavors that target this market as a valuable audience to cultivate will do both themselves and society a big favor.

ZeroDivide has recognized the need to support such enterprises in the community by investing in the growth and sustainability of several in the non-profit sector. So be aware spin doctors, the young media are coming and they don’t do dizzy.