An article published in the news section of the April 9 edition of The Equinox took a close look at voting habits here at Keene State College. The report, which was done by Tufts University, looked at how KSC students participated in the 2012 presidential election. The report showed that in 2012, 2,949 of KSC’s 5,008 students registered to vote.
Percentage wise, that is about 59 percents of students. The article goes on to explain that of the 2,949 students who were registered voters, 2,107 of those students voted in the 2012 presidential election. In other words, only about 71 percent of students who were registered to vote actually voted.
More interestingly, the report showed the break down of voting habits in relation to different majors. What we The Equinox found to be extremely concerning is that communication, journalism and related programs had the second-lowest percentage of student votes. As many of us on the executive board are journalism majors, this statistic raised concerns across the board. We took a moment to pause and wonder why so many of us in our major abstained from voting.
We began to wonder what this says about us as journalists. From day one in journalism courses we are taught that it is our duty to inform the public as fairly and accurately as possible. But with that type of power comes a level of responsibility. Anyone who aspires to become a journalist should really engage themselves in what is going on in the realm of politics.
While it may not always be enticing or interesting, it is crucially important to how society functions. We believe in the idea that every vote does in fact count.
Philip Bergeron / Graphic Design Editor
Knowing how much influence journalists have over the public, it concerns us to think that many journalists at this college decide not to vote. However, we are not encouraging students to go out and vote if they are uninformed about who or what they are voting for.
We are instead advocating for all students, but especially journalism students, to get involved and educate themselves. Journalism majors should have been ranked highest on that list of participated majors.
Journalists have a loyalty to the public to inform them with accurate and truthful information. We believe that cannot be done without the proper knowledge they gain themselves. This matter, of course, can be taken into even broader terms. People in general, regardless of major, should take accountability and educate themselves about who could potentially be making big decisions for our country. Whether people want to believe so or not, the decisions people in power make affect each and every one of us one way or another.
The notion that your one vote won’t make a difference is a mindset we would like to work toward eliminating. If everyone who normally does not vote came forward and actually voted their opinions, maybe we would see the changes we demand.
Most importantly, we would like to differentiate ourselves from those people who encourage everyone to get out and vote. Yes, we encourage everyone to vote, but we ask that people do both themselves and society a favor and know what it is they are voting for or against.
As journalists, we know and understand that our role is no longer that of a normal citizen. When you become a journalist, you take on the role of professional accountability and you are expected to live up to that on a daily basis.
The field of journalism is a relentless one and we believe the last thing journalism majors should struggle with is informing themselves. Because in return we need to inform the rest of the public.
