MTV Faces the ‘I-Voted-And-Nothing-Happened’ Syndrome

In the headquarters of MTV, some corporate officers are worried. In 1992, the cable music network devoted hours of programming to its “Choose or Lose” campaign, which encouraged viewers to pay attention to the presidential race and to vote. “We think we had a major impact on the number of people who turned out to vote,” says Carole Robinson, MTV’s senior vice president for communications. In other words, MTV had clout. (Imagine how gratifying it is for those responsible for “Beavis and Butt-head” to say they influenced a national election.) The Clintons acknowledged MTV’s role on the night of the inauguration, when they stole away from the official balls to attend MTV’s party.

MTV is planning a 1996 revival of “Choose or Lose.” But it is doing so with trepidation, for, according to MTV’s own polls, its consumers are fed up with politics.

The network regularly polls young adults, and those surveyed this past winter and spring said that they do not think it matters much who is elected, according to Gwen Lipsky, MTV senior vice president of research and planning. A poll conducted in April found that 56% think that the policies proposed by President Clinton “have no effect” on them. Forty-two percent said the same thing of the Republicans in Congress. Twenty-eight percent said the GOP-ers would make things worse for young Americans.

“Young people are so anti-Washington,” Lipsky comments. “They think it is the least likely place where you can get anything done.”

That’s a marked departure from 1992, when Generation Xers told MTV that there was a need for change and that it was important to vote. Lipsky sums up their current sentiment: “I did what you asked me to do: I voted. And nothing happened.” In short, the attitude toward voting is, Been there, done that.

MTV polling in the past two years confirms this is a population group detached from the political system. Sixty-four percent do not have a political hero. Only 19% consider themselves politically involved, while 75% describe themselves as moral, 77% say they are fun-loving and 39% call themselves hip.

The issues that most concern twentysomethings, say the MTV polls, are higher education (making it more affordable), crime and violence, health care and welfare reform. Barely mentioned: the deficit. In fact, when a survey last November asked respondents to rate the importance of 15 issues, they gave the reforming of Social Security the lowest rating.

“They don’t expect Social Security to be there for them, but they are not taking on the mantra that young people are being screwed by old people,” Lipsky says. “They are not rebellious toward older people.”

There is no monolithic youth voting bloc, she adds, and the national debt does not interest large numbers of Generation Xers.

This summer, MTV conducted focus groups of young people across the country. These sessions confirm the poll results. Lipsky recalls one gathering in which the participants energetically discussed affirmative action and education funding. Then the moderator asked them to respond to the word politics . silence. Slowly the Xers began muttering replies: “confusing,” “corruption” and “irrelevant.”

MTV’s focus-group research showed that there is a tremendous link between the political interests of young adults and how politics were regarded by their families. “People who grew up in households where no one ever talked about politics,” Lipsky reports, “are, not surprisingly, clueless. How to compensate for that is a big challenge for us.”

Actually, young adults are not much different from everyone else. Pollsters are registering more cynicism about the political system among adults of all ages. But, Lipsky observes, “the discouragement of young people is pretty profound.”

Still, MTV is pushing ahead. It recently announced that its “Choose or Lose ‘96” campaign will include issue-oriented news specials and regular coverage of the presidential primaries. The network’s political news team will operate out of a flashy, custom-designed bus that will tour the country.

As it gears up for the next round of “Choose or Lose,” MTV is hoping to figure out what issues--if any--will engage its viewers. Says Lipsky: “We have our work cut out for us.”