Expanded political coverage
With their national online newspaper, students share scoop on '08 elections
ANDOVER - Alexander Heffner will soon graduate from the prep school that produced a couple of presidents named Bush. Unlike the current White House occupant, however, who ran a springtime stickball league his senior year at Phillips Academy, Heffner is known around campus as a serious - some might say precocious - student of politics and journalism.
Last November, Heffner, 18, helped launch the first national student online newspaper, Scoop08.com. The project has grown into a network of 400 student journalists contributing reportage and opinion pieces from around the country. Along the way it has garnered support from prominent figures such as former US senators Alan Simpson and Gary Hart, columnist Frank Rich of The
Heffner and his Scoop08 cofounder, Yale University junior Andrew Mangino, 21, have yet to vote in their first national election. But their student-centric take on Campaign '08 - one in which the under-30 vote in states like Iowa and Texas has tripled primary-vote totals from 2000 - is already looking well-timed.
"We saw a real void when it comes to national student journalism, an opportunity to examine issues that impact young people in a serious, nonpartisan way," Heffner says during an interview on the Andover campus.
Recent features have included an analysis of how candidates might reshape the US Supreme Court if elected and the lingering effects of the Virginia Tech shootings on students' psyches. The economy, Iraq, and environmental issues are hot topics, too. In the past week Heffner has personally conducted interviews with Hart, refereeing the Obama-Clinton slugfest, and actor Sam Waterston, explaining why Unity08, a movement to run a bipartisan presidential ticket this year, has suspended operations.
Visitors are invited to become contributors, provided they pass muster with the editorial board. Those who qualify - it helps to be a working high school or college journalist - can choose among beats ranging from immigration and health care to the Green Party. Some beats are offbeat. The job description for philosophy correspondent, for example, is, "digs through past books, speaks with renowned political philosophy professors, and then questions candidates on the issues."
Scoop08 plans to expand its links to mainstream media sites like CNN, which has tapped Heffner and Mangino for campaign commentary. While "The Daily Show" and its ilk remain staples of young peoples' news diets, Scoop08.com aims for meatier fare. Calling itself a newspaper is one way to signal that intent, says Heffner, who embraces the old media universe as ardently as he does the new.
"We recognize students get their news from programs like Jon Stewart's," he says. "At the same time, we're trying to expand their horizons beyond satire. That doesn't mean our stories have to be long and dense, but they do have to be reported and edited in a responsible manner."
One fan is Harvard Law School professor John Palfrey, who runs the Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "A key aspect of the Internet and politics is the ability of young people to be more involved in public discourse," says Palfrey, who joined Scoop08's advisory board this year. "The more they see themselves as having a voice, the more they're inspired to get involved. And the more their involvement gets noticed, the greater their realization they can make a difference. It's what I call a virtuous cycle."
Heffner, who is bound for Harvard in the fall, credits his grandfather Richard Heffner with inspiring his preternatural interest in journalism and current events. Host of the long-running public affairs show "The Open Mind," Richard Heffner has been "an extraordinary influence on my life," says his grandson.
At Andover, Heffner hosts a campus radio show featuring guests like PBS correspondent Judy Woodruff and former US senator Lincoln Chafee. He and Mangino met while working as summer interns for US Senator Hillary Clinton. Mangino, who now edits the Yale Daily News, was already wired into a network of high school journalists - and shared Heffner's interest in developing a new-media model aimed at the millennials. Their discussions continued last summer, when Heffner interned at the Columbia Journalism Review and Mangino at the New York Observer.
Underwritten with what Heffner describes as a "modest five-figure investment" from friends and family, the nonprofit website debuted one year before Election Day 2008.
Implicit in the site's name are two promises: giving students the election-year skinny and breaking news along the campaign trail, much as the Huffingtonpost.com's OffTheBus, another citizen-journalist site, did last month by reporting on Barack Obama's "bitter" speech.
"We're still looking for that first big scoop," Heffner concedes. "It won't happen with one story, though. I tell our reporters that we can make this work, but it requires a lot of unconventional and untraditional thinking."
For Scoop08 to reach a higher level of professionalism, says Mangino, two goals must be met: building an even bigger network and pushing contributors to dig deeper in their reporting and analysis. "The big question for us," Mangino says, "is whether online networking and online journalism are really compatible."
All staffers work on a volunteer basis. The site's 19-person editorial board includes Sam Guzik, 19, a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis. As national editor, Guzik has been building a network of volunteer correspondents in key primary states like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
"Like most student publications, our big challenge is finding people who can juggle the demands of student life and outside work," Guzik says. But youth has its advantages, he adds. "This is the first campaign our reporters have covered, and that gives them a perspective mainstream media people don't have."
Heffner is unsure how many hours per week he devotes to Scoop08. ("Put it this way: I don't sleep much.") Site traffic has been modest so far - fewer than 1,000 unique visits in March, according to siteanalytics.compete.com - but should build, Heffner says, as he and Mangino add more features over the summer, like podcasts and video streaming.
Then there's the Obama factor. A new poll by Harvard's Institute of Politics gives the Illinois senator a 70 percent to 30 percent lead over Clinton among 18-to-25-year-old voters and a 50-29 margin over John McCain. Young voters are clearly gravitating toward Obama, but Scoop08 can ill afford to be identified with his campaign, cautions Heffner, or risk losing its credibility.
Will Scoop08 live on after the election? Perhaps, says Heffner, who plans to attend both national conventions this summer and present party leaders with ideas and initiatives gleaned from the website. Mangino, meanwhile, will report from overseas on how the campaign is playing there.
Heffner does get around. Last week he moderated a George Washington University panel on youth issues and presidential politics. One panelist was Woodruff, who praises what students are bringing to the table this election year.
"They're more involved politically and more worldly, too, because they can access information instantly through technology," notes Woodruff. Young people like Heffner "aren't waiting for the old folks" to create new media models, she adds. "They understand the technology. But it takes gumption, too."
Joseph P. Kahn can be reached at jkahn@globe.com.
