To be a young voter today means making decisions about the future of your community, state, and nation in an era of seismic political change. But where do young voters get the information they need to make those decisions? And where do you get the information you need to make those decisions?
Politicians, after all, are often quick to service the concerns of older voters, their positions on social security, health care, immigration, and crime rattled off with well-oiled precision in their stump speeches. And the media too often amplifies those who falsely define young people by their worst moments or failures, perpetuating harmful stereotypes and narratives about historically excluded communities.
Through this issue, we are taking a different approach to campaign coverage. We are centering the lived experiences of young people in and around Baltimore.
At a virtual gathering, an in-person gathering, and through an informal online survey, we asked young people, ranging in age from 14 to 24, questions such as whether they would be heading to the polls, what issues they care about, and what they would like to see candidates for elected office do for them. You’ll find their responses in these pages.
We also asked the candidates running to represent the citizens of Baltimore and the state of Maryland what they have to offer in response to issues of importance to young people. If elected, how do they propose to improve access to mental health care, make public transportation more efficient and readily available, improve education, ensure public safety, and provide greater economic and developmental opportunities for younger citizens? We are grateful to the candidates who responded. We are disappointed that none of the highest-polling mayoral candidates, including incumbent Brandon Scott, responded.
This was too much to fit in one print issue of Baltimore Beat, so be sure to go online to find our complete candidate survey, links to reporting relevant to the issues that young people are facing, and more.
This voter guide was created by the Baltimore News Collaborative, a project exploring the challenges and successes experienced by young people in Baltimore. It includes The Baltimore Banner, Morgan State University, WYPR Radio, Baltimore Beat, Maryland Public Television, and with help from Wide Angle Youth Media. The collaborative is supported by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (https://www.aecf.org). News members of the collaborative retain full editorial control.
Lisa Snowden, Editor-in-Chief, Baltimore Beat and Leonard Pitts, Director of the Center for Urban Journalism at Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism & Communication
The post Letter from the editor – Issue 38 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.