WALDOBORO — As part of the continuing Informed Young Leaders Series, students from Oceanside High School in Rockland and Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro addressed the public Wednesday evening, December 18, on “The Media Revolution: Changing the World.”  

The topic was used with permission, from the upcoming Camden Conference (February 21-23), in a loose collaboration to support the Camden Conference in the Classroom initiative, according to IYLS, in a news release.

Richard Ware and Hayden Daigle, from MVHS, started the evening event with their presentation, ‘Hate Groups Influence on Social Media,’ covering White Supremacists and Neo Nazis in the U.S. to the cartels in Mexico and ISIS in the Middle East. 

Alexa Barstow, from OHS, spoke on ‘Shifting Tides: How Media is Changing Politics,’ revealing how prevalent the belief that Fake News is pervasive has become, and how social media has fueled political uprisings around the world, including the Arab Spring and student protests in the U.S. against gun control and climate change.

Wyatt Sikes and Jethro Pease, from MVHS, talked about how online anonymity creates and perpetuates false narratives, provides safe haven for online bullying and, generally threatens the integrity of legitimate online media.   

Ryan Lynch, from OHS, talked about the ‘How the Media’s Choice of News to Cover Influences Voters’, citing examples from both ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal-progressive’ media push their own agendas – and support specific candidates, initiatives, and policies – through their choices of which events, people and subjects to cover, and how they choose to shade their coverage to meet their own biases and agendas.

Jose Pereira concluded the series of presentations with his talk on the global spread of, and threats from, radicalization and tribalism starting online and spreading to live action – protests, acts of terrorism, and the battlefield. 

At the conclusion of the presentations, the students engaged with the audience in an active round of Q & A, answering questions such as ‘What was the biggest surprise you encountered when researching this topic?’ to which a number of the students replied, “Finding out how quickly China’s economic and technological gains are accelerating.”

One member of the audience commended the students, saying, “I learned a lot about China tonight that I suspected but never knew. I can’t tell you how impressed and grateful I am for your thoughtful presentations.”

Rich Worner of MVHS and Jennifer Cross, of OHS, were the sponsoring teachers from their respective schools, with both participating for the first time. 

“We brought the IYL-PechaKucha format into our Gifted and Talented classroom this fall, and it was well received by all of the students in the class,” said Cross, in the news release. “This program really belongs in a classroom setting,”

Rich Worner said, “and I am hopeful we can do that again at Medomak next year.”

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The event was the tenth in the Informed Young Leaders Series, which is designed to provide students the opportunity to publicly express themselves on vital political issues. As they have been since the inception of the IYL Series, The First National Bank, Eastern and Tire & Auto are the lead sponsors for this year’s programs, and Courier Publications provided media sponsorship.

For more information contact Nick Lapham at nick@informedyoungleaders.com or check out the event’s website at www.informedyoungleaders.com.