The Big Picture Presents Ready to Vote 2008
October 9, 2008
Today I got the opportunity to go on the set of The Big Picture Presents Ready to Vote 2008“” at the Columbia ETV studios. In case you don’t know what it is, “Ready to Vote” is a program that tries to inspire high schoolers to get out and vote. It also inspires them to be more involved in politics instead of thinking that it is something that older people do.
The show was hosted by Craig Melvin. He used to be on WISTV, and now works in Washington D.C. Not only did he interview students in the Columbia area, there were also more high schoolers across the state that gave their views. They used live feeds from different ETV studios across the state to accomplish this task.
I thought it was pretty exciting watching the show getting taped (it was also being broadcast live to high schools and was taped to be shown on ETV sometime later). I always wondered how TV shows were taped, and I managed to see behind the set of “The Big Picture Presents Ready to Vote 2008”.
The students on “The Big Picture Presents Ready to Vote 2008” knew quite a lot about the candidates, the election, and the political environment around them. They seemed way more interested in political subjects than I would. They talked about things such as the economy, health care, the war in Iraq, and other things. They had a lot of opinions about what was happening in the world, and about what they want from the new president.
The USC students did some commercials during the show that tried to encourage students to register to vote. I thought they were very funny and would definitely encourage many eligible high schoolers to vote.
I thought it was very cool to visit the set of “The Big Picture Presents Ready to Vote 2008”. It was a great experience for me to have. I learned how TV shows are filmed. I also learned a lot about politics from watching. I learned that it is important to vote and become involved in our government.
Jesse Lester, 7th Grade Lugoff Elgin Middle School
