The political climate of today’s America seems to change dramatically from year to year. As opinions change and generations grow up, the political world shifts and adjusts.
The political landscape is not an easy terrain to cross for newcomers. There’s complicated language and confusing jargon. Sometimes stories are ongoing and you don’t know how to go back to the beginning. It’s not easy to jump into the world of politics if you don’t know where to start.
Additionally, concerns trusting the content means spending even more time to compare and contrast stories in order to get the best information. This can be time-consuming and may take more time than audiences are willing to spend.
College students today at Ohio University and around the world are becoming more involved in the political world. For some, that means action and advocacy, but for most of Generation Z, it begins with education. If these students plan to become politically active, it begins with informing themselves about the issues they care about.
Others are not sure if they want to be involved in politics at all. With so much overwhelming content and heated arguments, politics are a bleak climate that it’s easier to ignore than get involved in.
So why is it worth it to get involved? What issues should you care about and why? What makes one issue more important than another? Is it worth the time spent digging through material to do so?
Well, this column’s intent is to help remedy all of that. My name is Claire Schiopota; I’m a journalism major with a minor in political science. I’ve worked at the CNN Political Unit and I was awarded a scholarship from the White House Correspondents Association. This will be my fourth and final year with The Post after writing for the Projects and News sections over my collegiate career. I finally feel confident that I’ve learned the tools to navigate the political world.
Claireification will take a political subject, whether it’s an event that’s happened, a process getting started or an election to look out for, and dive into what it is. I’ll provide details and explanations to people who normally wouldn’t know where to start. The columns will also explain why I believe the subject is worth your time, energy and focus to understand.
Although this is an opinion column, Claireification is not about what I think you should believe in regards to the column, but rather, why you should look into it and be aware. There’s other content that will tell you how to think so I’m just here to tell you to bring it to your attention.
If there is a specific topic or political subject you want to see covered, feel free to reach out, and make sure to keep an eye out for future installments of Claireification.
Claire Schiopota is a senior studying journalism. Please note that the opinions expressed in this column do not reflect those of The Post. Want Claire to cover a certain topic or talk about her column? Email her at cs123719@ohio.edu or tweet her @CSchiopota.
