” INFORMATION:

During Governor Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech in St. Paul, the base McCain was struggling with the most, finally decided to come in full fledge in supporting him for president, which is the right-leaning conservatives. Senator McCain even started to lead in most of the polls for the first time. However, a few weeks after that, it seems as if though the campaign went down hill from there. From Sarah Palin’s obvious robotic responses to Charles Gibson’s interview and the whining of Katie Couric’s piece-of-cake questions, to the economic turmoil, it’s become apparent that the McCain camp are losing it.

Today’s news just got even worse for Sarah Palin. Other various media outlets have reported that the Alaska governor had overstepped on her authorative power by firing a cop for not firing a cop.

Listen here!

Eleven-year-old Davyon Williams had no idea what was in store for him when he showed up at his second day of school at Paul and Sheila Wellstone Elementary. The school is just steps from the Republican National Convention’s headquarters at the Xcel Center in St. Paul. Youth Radio enlisted him as a tour guide and hooked up with Davyon during his social studies class, where his teacher, Ms. Witt, integrated themes from Presidential politics into her lesson. Davyon’s own biggest hope for the Presidential election is for whoever comes into office to end the war so his big brother can come home.

Now that the RNC is rolling out of town, and our on the ground coverage is done, we have time to reflect on a couple of characters we met, and experiences we had during our week in St. Paul. Here are two stories from the week that touch on the role of conservative talk radio and TV in U.S. politics and families–with perspectives from young people who make the media and consume it everyday. 

It’s His Party and He’ll Talk if He Wants To

Nationally syndicated talk show host Ben Ferguson at the XCel Center

Ankitha: Conservative talk radio has always had a rep for being loud and in-your-face. Well, everything the medium is known for is embodied in 27-year-old Ben Ferguson, a nationally syndicated talk show host.

LISTEN HERE!

My Dad the Conservative Bulldog

Denise is a graduate of Youth Radio's class of 2003. At 19, she's a production assistant in the newsroom, helping students develop stories for both our National and Local outlets. Denise is also helping produce much of the immigration coverage for Youth Radio.

Nineteen-year-old Denise Tejada is at the RNC, getting her first exposure to young Latino Republicans en masse. Her father, a strident conservative, has ingrained his values in Denise through stories of his personal history, debate, and Spanish language talk radio and TV.

LISTEN HERE!

Nationally syndicated talk show host Ben Ferguson at the XCel Center

You can meet conservative talk radio host, Ben Ferguson, in audio form in our next post. But here you get to check him out in moving pictures. Ever wanted a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the making of conservative talk radio? That’s just what Youth Radio’s Ankitha Bharadwaj got–in a big way–during her visit to the RNC in St. Paul.

She tagged along with conservative talk radio personality, Ben Ferguson, who’s been broadcasting live all week from the RNC’s Radio Row. Ben got his start in radio before his 13th birthday. Now he’s nationally syndicated–and a force on and off the mic. Meeting Ben is shook some of Ankitha’s assumptions about a media landscape she’s been coming to know as an emerging young producer.

Well… if you were wondering how the whole interview with mun2 TV went down… here’s a little video for you. Just to remind you, Denise met up with Renato Lopez and Xochitl Dorsey of mun2 TV to be interviewed for a feature… But when the interview was over, she decided it was time to conduct an interview of her own…

Photo credit: Ashley Barchas

Minneapolis-Saint Paul__Youth Radio’s Alana Germany surveyed opinions at the RNC about VP nominee Sarah Palin’s daughter and her pregnancy.

Is Bristol The New Jamie Lynn?

READ IT!

Minneapolis-Saint Paul–Now before you get your baffled face on, let me explain.

When Youth Radio was preparing its RNC team, the first question they asked us was…

Youth Radio: “How old are you?”

Ankitha: “What? I’m 18, why do you ask?”

Youth Radio: “That’s good, because only journalists 18 and over are allowed into the RNC.”

Seems like a lame rule, doesn’t it? The obvious reason might be that only people over 18 are allowed to vote, so if there are die hard political junkie journalists who are on the younger end of the spectrum, they’re denied the chance to play a vital role in this year’s political process.

And much like this convention, many nightclubs across the country require partygoers to be at least 18 to enter. The resemblances don’t stop there. If you’ve ever been to a club, I’m sure you’ve had interesting experiences with the huge bouncer, who guards the club doors to make sure only the “worthy” are allowed in. Similarly, the Xcel Center in St. Paul was guarded by security officers, metal detectors, and scanners. Moreover, just as you’d need to have your name on a special list, the convention requires credentials for anyone to enter the Xcel Center, and getting those credentials is tricky business if you’re under 18.

Maybe it’s just me, but isn’t it a little weird that the RNC didn’t allow journalists under 18 when they’re trying so hard to appeal to the youth? And moreover, this just gives the democrats more power, since the DNC happily welcomed underage reporters.

We spoke with folks from YPress, a media organization similar to Youth Radio headquartered in Indianapolis. They were frustrated when the RNC denied them any credentials, forcing YPress to look elsewhere for RNC coverage. And the worst thing is that they’ve covered both the DNC and the RNC for years now, so it’s a little confusing why they weren’t credentialed this time around. But the YPress team got some pretty awesome stories; they interviewed Fred Thomson, Mike Huckabee, and a few other cool cats. So take that RNC.

Former Florida Congressman Joe Scarborough, host of 'Morning Joe,' daily newscast on MSNBC, and reporter Kelly Chau meet at the RNC.

by Kelly Chau

Minneapolis-St. Paul – That’s right, folks: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough sent Youth Radio’s Kelly Chau to Cloud 9.

During my third day at the 2008 Republican National Convention, I visited a lot of various media outlets and interviewed a few goers at the Xcel Energy Center, but my last interview was special. After stumbling across the convention floor, I finally spotted my hero, Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. Best believe, my eyes literally popped out of my head. There was no time for me to waste, so I walked up to him, introduced myself, told him about Youth Radio, and asked him if he could spare a minute. And you guessed it, he cheerfully said “sure.” So I interviewed him, asked him a few questions pertaining to current politics. After that, we snapped a photo together, as you can see. Then out of nowhere, Nate Hadden (Cameraman) busted me out by telling him I had a crush on him! But Joe didn’t seem to mind, thankfully.  He simply laughed. He ultimately made my day – I could hardly breathe afterwards.