The five questions that I came with for the purposes of interviewing were:
- What people and/or events in your life were most significant in developing or changing your political views?
- What sources do you look to most often for news?
- Are you aware of biases in their reporting as you’re ingesting the information? If so, how?
- What do you feel are the three most important civil liberties in your life?
- What do you think of the new ranked choice voting system in Alaska? Is it a system that should be more broadly adopted by other states?
The first person that I chose to interview was my mom. She was initially resistant to participating because she feels that she’s not very political or well-informed. In response to the first question, she said that she realized the necessity and value of voting in elections when she lived in Italy for a year. While she was there, the U.S. held a presidential election and she found that many Italians had strong opinions/political views in relation to it. This made her recognize the significance of her right to vote, and she now tries to vote in every election and do the right thing as a citizen. In response to the second question, she said that she tends to go to KTUU (online articles), NPR (podcasts), BBC (online articles), and MSN (online articles) for news. She tries to get a wide variety of local, state, national, and international news. Since she’s fluent in Italian and French, she sometimes looks at news sources from Italy and France, as well. She said that sometimes local biases in journalism are recognizable in the way that they present issues and candidates. She also recognizes that NPR can sometimes feature more extreme/solid stances since the basis of their platform is feature stories that showcase a certain point of view. When viewed as a whole collection, she feels that the podcasts still offer a wide range of views. She said that she makes a point to no longer look at FOX because it’s “incendiary and irritating.” Sometimes she’ll look at CNN, depending on what’s on the MSN feed. In response to the fourth question, she said that the civil liberties that she feels are most important are equal treatment under the law; freedom of religion; and the right to own property. She was unsure what civil liberties really were and had me explain a bit and looked them up. Lastly, she feels that the ranked choice voting system in Alaska seems to be effective and work well. From what she’s seen so far, she likes it, because it helps when a vote is divided or close and allows for other people on the ballot to be recognized as having gotten votes. Overall, she thinks that it should be more broadly adopted by other states because it seems more fair and it helps deal with the problem of a political system that’s so sharply divided between two parties.
The second person I chose to interview was my dad. He’s not extremely political, but is generally well-informed, especially in areas of interest to him. In response to the first question, the biggest event that affected his political views was immigrating to the United States from New Zealand. In doing so, he had to learn more about the political system and existing parties (the latter was confusing to him because the colors associated with liberal and conservative parties are swapped in N.Z.). Coworkers and other church-goers that he trusted for opinions also influenced his views. His family didn’t discuss politics growing up, and they only had access to newspapers—no TV or radio—so his childhood didn’t have a significant impact. In response to the second question, he said that he tries to get a wide variety of perspectives, ranging all across the spectrum. He looks at blogs and YouTube channels from both sides; KTUU and Alaska’s News Source (articles and commentaries); MSNBC and FOX for the sake of different perspectives; and BBC and the New Zealand Herald for international perspectives. He said that he can see who they’re backing or their biases by observing who they’re painting in a good light or bashing. He also noted that you can see the switch/swing depending on what the people that they’re backing do. In response to the fourth question, he said that the civil liberties that he feels are most important are the freedom to vote; freedom of speech; freedom to be of any racial background/ethnicity; and freedom to have any type of disability/ability. The last is especially important to him because he works for a nonprofit organization that supports people with disabilities. My dad was also somewhat shaky on what civil liberties were. Lastly, he thinks that the ranked choice voting system seems good so far. It makes it so that you’re voting for a person, not a party, and it helps make sure that representatives can work together to do what’s best for their people. Therefore, he thinks that it should be more broadly adopted because it offers the opportunity to elect someone who will be a good representative regardless of party affiliation.
The third and final person that I chose to interview was my boyfriend’s mom. She was also hesitant to participate because she felt that she was uninformed and not very political. In response to the first question, she said that her father was very into politics and would always watch political shows. She thinks that this may have been a significant factor in her current tendency to avoid being very into politics. Another thing that has shaped her political views is the fact that she’s worked for land management agencies, so she’s often biased towards candidates who support that. In response to the second question, she said that she sometimes listens to NPR because it seems to be a bit more neutral and, if she watches the news, she watches all the different shows to find the truth. For local news, she looks to KTUU and sometimes ADN. She does recognize biases in reporting and said that you can’t believe everything that you hear. She says that she takes everything with a grain of salt and looks out for when people start to focus on the negatives and get heated, since they’re usually trying to get a reaction or fight. In response to the fourth question, she was unsure what civil liberties were and I had to explain some and she looked it up. Ultimately, she decided that freedom of speech and religion were most important to her, and she couldn’t pick a third one since she wasn’t entirely sure what the options were. Lastly, she’s not sure that she’s knowledgable enough about the ranked choice voting system to form a good opinion. From her point of view, it seems like it’s just making things complicated to confuse people. She wasn’t very sure how it works and therefore couldn’t speak on whether or not it should be more broadly adopted.
This assignment was alright to complete. I don’t usually discuss politics with my parents, since we never really grew up discussing them in my household. I liked getting my dad’s insight the most because I think that his experience as an immigrant makes it more unique. He was likely the most well-informed out of the three people that I interviewed. I felt a bit awkward asking my boyfriend’s mom political questions, but it was insightful nonetheless. I think it’s interesting to see the wide variety of understanding between people—even middle-aged adults who have had significant experience voting in U.S. elections. I think this is a fine assignment to continue using in future classes.