Thirty-two-year-old Derrick Ashong did not plan on becoming a YouTube sensation when, on January 31, 2008, he accompanied his friend to a Democratic primary debate in Hollywood. Ashong had only reluctantly agreed to hold up a sign for Barack Obama outside the Kodak Theater.
Milling around in a crowd of supporters, Ashong was interviewed by “Mike,” an anonymous documentary filmmaker, out to test the commitment of Obama’s supporters. “So why are you for Obama?” Mike asked. He began to grill Ashong with a series of detailed, demanding questions.
But Ashong was no novice when it came to social policy. It turned out that he had plenty of detailed reasons why he supported Obama. For about six minutes, he and Mike debated the finer points of Obama’s health care policy. An interesting article about this interview was published in the New York Times.
The YouTube clip of this interview attracted mainstream media attention. Responding to its popularity, Ashong soon released a follow-up clip where he testified to other reasons why he supported Obama.
This second clip received over 400,000 hits. An aspiring entertainer, Ashong gained thousands of new fans through the Internet, because he had cared enough to bother learning his health care facts.
|
| Many websites seek to educate the general public on different policy concerns. Annenberg Classroom, located at www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/all-issues, is a website run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center. It spotlights debates about different policy issues. For each policy question, you can first read a summary of the issue, and then post your own reaction to it. The site also allows you to find elected officials and local newspapers, if you wish to contact others about your concerns.
|
| 1a. What is a current social policy question highlighted in Student Voices’ “Speak Out” section of the website? Read the full story for one of these issues. What are some of the major positions on this issue that are discussed? With which position(s) do you agree? Why?
|
|
| 1b. Learn more about your local community, using the Student Voices Census profile on the site. Enter your local ZIP code. What are the racial or ethnic demographics of your local ZIP code? How do these demographics compare to the United States overall? |
|
| 1c. What was the median value of the homes in your neighborhood, according to the most recent Census survey? What was the median income in your community? |
|
| Public policy debates can be difficult to follow because it is hard to find unbiased, accurate information on the Internet. Also run by Annenberg, the website FactCheck, located at www.factcheck.org, tries to assess policy debates and to provide neutral, informative summaries.
|
| 2a. Review some of the articles at FactCheck that concern social policy issues. Which issues are featured? Why do you think these issues are prominent right now?
|
|
| 2b. What claims were made about these issues? What, according to Annenberg, is the real story?
|
|
| Use the Internet to join a local community group. You can research opportunities for volunteering in your area through websites like Do Something, located at http://www.dosomething.org/. This website also provides advice on ways you can impact different social policies, including the use of online advocacy. It also keeps you abreast of new competitions and organizations like What’s Your Issue, which has granted cash awards for submitted videos that highlight different social concerns.
|
| 3a. The site www.dosomething.org lists a variety of potential causes that students can get involved in. Select one of these causes to learn more about the problem and opportunities to participate. Which cause did you select? |
|
| 3b. What is one fact you learned from the Do Something website about this cause? |
|