“10 Ways ISIS Is Worse Than Spinach… Number 7 Will Blow Your Mind!”
“A Ukrainian Rebel Interacts With A Puppy… This Video Will Make Your Heart Melt.”
Don’t you hate yourself when you click on those headlines? Soundbites and listicles are taking over media, dumbing down complex issues like war, inequality, foreign policy and climate change.
Last September, I launched OpedSpace with a few friends of mine from school. We hope to change the way media is created and consumed by our generation.
Despite popular belief, this isn’t a narcissistic generation. Sure, we like our occasional selfie, but we are also deeply consumed by issues that go beyond our immediate surroundings.
That can be seen by the way the world intently followed the Arab Spring in 2011 and how thousands of Americans participated in Tea Party rallies and the #blacklivesmatter movement. Young people of all political persuasions are taking action.
Today, we are more globally conscious than at any other point in our history. Events that happen across the world resonate with us in ways that we would have been immune to in the not-so-distant past.
We’ve come to appreciate the complexity of how the world works and are increasingly interested in the news of parts of the world that we would not have heard about 20 years ago.
More than that, we hold strong opinions about these events and look for places to debate and inform ourselves further about what is going on.
Also, the way we consume the news is changing. When was the last time you, or someone your age, tuned in for the “evening news?” We don’t even gather around for shows we actually follow, like John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight or Stewart’s The Daily Show. Most of us don’t have a clue when those shows are actually aired, we just watch them off of our Facebook feed or streaming sites.
Whether it’s the second year analyst on Wall Street that still finds time to volunteer at an education NGO, or the Egyptian civil rights activist who has devoted her entire life to improving job opportunities for her compatriots, you see young people all around the world actively contributing to their communities.
The sad part is that their stories are largely ignored and unheard. We want to change that.
To that end, we are launching an Indiegogo campaign to help us take OpedSpace to the next level. We have already covered many amazing stories, from in-depth analysis of the war in Yemen, to an exclusive documentary with the families of Egyptian Christians beheaded by ISIS and a series of posts from the rebel front lines in Eastern Ukraine.
We are raising $15,000 to help us revamp the website, increase our coverage of difficult stories and move into video and podcasts. And we need your help to do so.
We would love it if you could donate to the campaign, share it with your friends and spread the word about OpedSpace. We are also looking for talented young writers interested in economics, international affairs and politics that want to produce hard hitting content.
Email me at tcassis@gmail.com if you would like to contribute!
WE SAID THIS: Don’t miss Families of Egyptian Christians Beheaded by ISIS Speak Out.