Throughout the years, the IU Media School developed a knack for producing many great newscasters and journalists. Many graduates come out of IU ready to take on the real world, walking into good jobs and producing quality news stories. These students interact with important news stories on a day -in-and day-out basis. But what happens when these students are questioned about their knowledge of public officials?

The questions were straightforward enough – who is the Governor of Indiana, who is the President of Indiana University, and when is the upcoming general election Date for 2018? The students surveyed struggled to answer many of the questions, with more than one student stating that Mike Pence was still the acting Governor in the state of Indiana.

In fairness, the majority of students were well aware that Michael McRobbie is the acting president at IU. Only a few were unaware of the leader of the Bloomington campus, while few knew could name the leader of Indiana. Heading back to the idea of the general election date, about half of the students knew when to cast their vote and make their voice heard. A few came across the correct answer after a chorus of “ummms”, which did not inspire confidence, but the answer was still correct.

When the focus of the questions shifted to questions like, “Who was IU’s top-rated basketball recruit? ” and “What are the drink specials at Kilroy’s on Tuesday?”, the students tended to have a much higher rate of correct answers. Few, if any, missed questions about Romeo Langford, while about three-quarters of students knew the drink specials at Kilroy’s, with the only incorrect answers coming from students under age 21 or students who said they do not drink.

Students were randomly interviewed on the street outside the media school. The students had to agree to be interviewed on camera, which deterred a few people who originally agreed to be interviewed. Furthermore, there were a great deal of people who did not want to take part in the interview for various reasons. A few students fully admitted prior to the interview that they would not know enough about their public officials, furthering much of the empirical data that was gathered. These students chose not to appear on camera, for fear that they would, “look foolish on camera”.

After looking at the full body of work, there were some good points, but there is plenty of room for improvement. This comes amid a large push underway  to persuade students to vote. At least half of the students interviewed did not know when they needed to vote. Half the battle comes from registration, but if half of the students are unaware of when to cast their votes and make their voice heard, only a fraction of their efforts will yield the result of higher voter turnout.