Mister anchor assure me
That Baghdad is burning.

                “Testify”, Rage Against the Machine, 1999

“I don’t think the media are that important.”

It’s not often that you hear someone, anyone, downplay the role of the media in anything. Criticism is often heard and even expected when it comes to media, but saying the media are entirely unimportant, especially in an election year? Scandalous, especially coming from the mouth of former MTV News Correspondent Gideon Yago.

Addressing a crowd of students in the Storer Auditorium at the University of Miami, Yago asks a simple question: “How many of you use Facebook?”

Almost every hand in the auditorium rises.

“Okay. How many of you care about the war in Iraq?”

This time every hand in the room is raised for sure.

“Cool. Now, how many of you have used Facebook to find a friend within five miles of Baghdad?”

Crickets. Heads turn to see if anyone, even one person, can impress Gideon Yago. But no one can.

*                             *                              *                              *                              *                              *

With media all around us, Yago says, we do not take the initiative to learn firsthand about what is happening in our world. Instead we wait to be reported to.

The same can be said of the youth vote’s attitude towards the 2008 election, according to Yago. Instead of being actively involved, a majority of the youth will “chuck a Hail Mary pass at Washington, D.C.” and wash their hands. Assuming that most of the young in the US are excited about Obama, Yago says that if Barack wins, the young will walk away from the polls feeling like they did their part and not remain invested in politics for the next four years and beyond. If McCain wins? Youth might get disgusted with the political system and become disinterested in politics for the next four years and beyond. Two different outcomes; same result. (Note: Yago’s opinion is not necessarily mine. I saw a lot of Students for McCain at the RNC.)

Action, not just casting a ballot, is key to Yago.

The ultimate power we have, says Yago, is the ability to organize, especially online. Money makes the wheels go round in the political world, and big donors and interests get heard.

“Money is still what drives the parties, and money is still what drives politics in general,” Yago says. “Turnout does as well, but you can’t expect these machines, which operate on a fundraising basis, to say, ‘Oh, we’ll just roll out the red carpet to a bunch of people who subsist on Top Ramen and stolen mp3s.’ Like, that’s not a good business strategy.”

When you’re working at the coffee shop for $7 an hour, donating to a campaign or lobbying for a cause is probably the last thing on your mind. More likely you’re thinking about if you’re going to buy books or beer.  But if you and 10,000 of your closest friends can organize via Facebook to donate five bucks each? Now you’re getting somewhere, according to Yago.

Yago says for there to be a true enfranchisement of the youth population in American politics, grassroots organizations will have to work together to be heard. As an example, Yago points out the many organizations that existed in the 1960’s and pushed youth issues forward. “You look at SNCC, you look at SDS, you look at the Anti-Vietnam War Movement, you look at the Voter Rights Movement. It wasn’t like it was one young person’s movement, but at the time of the Baby Boomers they found a way to say, ‘Look, we’re all kind of against the status quo here.’”

So if 100,000 will join the Facebook group “I Picked a Major I Like, and One Day I Will Probably Be Living in a Box,” can 100,000 of us mobilize to maybe lower the cost of college? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…