JLI’s “The Future is Ours” Documentary Gives Voice to High School Journalists and Voters
As we approach the 2024 election, “The Future is Ours,” our Journalistic Learning Initiatives new documentary is giving voice to America’s youngest journalists and voters.
As the film’s director, I’m excited to share my experience creating this documentary. The inspiration for this project struck me while our team was mentoring high school journalism students covering the 60th anniversary of Dr. King’s March on Washington.
We realized many of these students would soon be eligible to vote, and I saw them as “interpreters of what’s going on in the world for their generation.”
In making this film, we set out to explore a range of pressing issues — from gun violence and climate change to reproductive rights and mental health challenges facing teenagers.
But what we believe sets our documentary apart is its commitment to diverse perspectives. We made a conscious effort to include representation from not just students in blue states, but red states and purple states, and young people whose opinions spanned diversity of perspectives on these different issues.
What we found truly refreshing was how engaged and thoughtful these young people are about major social issues. Contrary to stereotypes, we discovered that they’re not just idly spinning their two hours away on TikTok. They actually care about these issues; and they’re engaged.
Drawing on my background as a former CNN executive producer, we used news clips to contextualize student opinions, highlighting the complex relationship between media coverage and public perception of issues. This approach allowed us to offer insights into the state of modern news media and its impact on public trust.
Perhaps most gratifying is how “The Future is Ours” has sparked further dialogue and action. We’ve initiated a follow-up Common Ground Project exploring how young people might find solutions and foster more civil political discourse.
A common theme surfaced from the young people featured in our project. “Why do our leaders have to call each other names? Why can’t they agree that they agree on some things and disagree on some other things, but just like, have a more civil type of conversation?”
In this era of increasing political polarization, we believe our documentary serves as a timely reminder of the importance of including young voices in our national conversations. We’ve observed that there’s not really an entry point for them to voice what they’re thinking about these different issues, and we hope our film helps change that.
We’re proud that “The Future is Ours” offers a refreshing look at how the next generation of voters approaches complex social challenges. We invite everyone interested in understanding the perspectives that will shape American politics to watch our film.
“The Future is Ours” is making the film festival circuit and one upcoming stop is at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival on September 29th at the Clinton Street Theater, in Portland, Oregon. We look forward to engaging with audiences about these important voices and ideas.
Watch “The Future is Our” here: https://journalisticlearning.org/future/
Learn more about JLI’s Common Ground Project here: https://journalisticlearning.org/commonground/
Learn more about the Oregon Documentary Film Festival: https://www.facebook.com/OregonDocumentaryFF/
