Editor's note: Quinn Mitchell is a high school freshman from Walpole, New Hampshire. He runs a podcast and has attended over 100 presidential campaign events. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinions on CNN.
CNN —
In the New England community where I live, town hall meetings promote open dialogue, allowing everyone to openly participate and explore public issues. If the answer is not satisfactory, the audience can ask further questions.
But I've seen presidential candidates slip by, dodging honest questions with answers that would never hold up in a town meeting. Town meetings are places where every citizen can become a journalist, demanding public answers and accountability from town officials (whose answers and accountability are usually answered to assembled voters). ).
As a 16-year-old aspiring journalist who has been called a “clown,” “disruptor,” and “joke,” I know that these derogatory words did not come from my siblings or classmates, but from presidential campaign staff and others. It may be surprising that it comes from a presidential campaign staffer. political operative.
I've asked presidential candidates pointed and respectful questions. “Did Trump violate the peaceful transfer of power?” It was January 6th. “A danger to democracy?” I question candidates on both sides of the political spectrum, but this primary cycle, where Democrats recently stripped New Hampshire of its No. 1 national status, I attended mostly Republican events.
Yet, I have been removed from Republican events by police and physically threatened by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' security team. At an “Our Great American Comeback” event in New Hampshire, Mr. DeSantis avoided answering my questions about the peaceful transfer of power. (His previous remarks emphasized the importance of upholding the important principles of the Founding Fathers, including the peaceful transfer of power.) A week later, I heard that DeSantis' After asking for a follow-up on May 6th, DeSantis' security physically threatened and removed me. “Answer” — to which the Florida governor responded, “Please come to the next event.”
Last November, I attended another event for the former South Carolina governor. nikki haley. Even though I followed her Q&A instructions and she refused to answer any of my questions, I was moved by Haley and her team.
My experience is just part of a disturbing trend. Gen Z journalists are often silenced by authority figures and officials, and student journalists across the country are not guaranteed full First Amendment protections, discouraging active student participation and exposing them to lawsuits. It's inciting fear.
Especially in light of the upcoming 2024 presidential election in November, it is vitally important that I encourage my generation to speak up without fear. Young people have the power to make real change. Gen Z will account for more than 40 million voters this year, or nearly one-fifth of American voters, according to a study by Tufts University.
However, we don't know who is running the show, whether it's a super PAC or a candidate. Like many people in our country, I am concerned about the potential for escalating conflict due to growing political, social, and economic divisions. If the then 15-year-old's questions provoked such hostility, more challenging questions should be asked, especially on topics that politicians prefer to avoid or withhold from the public. The relentless control, management of campaign events, and media response that I experienced reflects a long history of censorship in the United States, dating back to the Alien and Sedition Act of 1798, which allowed the American people to uttering or publishing false, scandalous, or malicious writings about the government. ”
How can we solve existential threats to our future if government officials across the political aisle can't speak to each other with respect and understanding? I wonder how candidates will address these issues. I asked if they were planning to deal with it. Some may think we are “too young” to worry or understand national policies, but these outcomes will determine our future. It's a future that Gen Z is increasingly concerned about.
Many people of my generation feel that we have inherited a troubled and burning world, stripped of its resources and bereft of the hopes and possibilities that previous generations enjoyed. .
Knowing the power of open access and seeing the lack of access on the campaign trail inspired me to explore my passion in journalism: the search for truth from power, especially when power evades or circumvents it. Continuing. I reframed my experience as a call to action, witnessed the political process through the critical eyes of Gen Z, and asked the difficult questions that matter to the world around me, even if it made me a little scared. I decided to throw it.
I intend to do my part by practicing amateur journalism wherever I can. I want to encourage my generation to get involved in this process, to have a seat at the table, and to ask the questions that politicians would most like to avoid. It is our heritage, our right, and our responsibility.
