Politics affect everyone in America, however political engagement between teenagers can be sparse. This lack of engagement promotes misinformation and miseducation; though some teens combat this trend. AGHS senior Sean Oksner has taken upon himself to do so.

Oksner created several social media accounts named “60 Second Recap” on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Bluesky. The account is a 60 second recap on each week’s news and is released every Sunday night.

Beginnings:

“[The idea for a 60 second recap] came about when I went to this journalism workshop at Cal Poly,” Oksner said. “We were given this opportunity at the end of the program to expand upon one of our articles.”

Oksner’s article was an op-ed piece on the Trump administration. He went into a Cal Poly basement, wrote a script, and filmed a 90 second video about political events over the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency.

“I found one of the hardest parts of that journalism camp was staying perfectly unbiased when reporting the news,” Oksner said. “With misinformation rampant, when people report from an impartial standpoint, whatever political ideology is leveraging misinformation will say, ‘you’re going too far to the other side’.”

To avoid this struggle, Oksner decided to avoid complete objectivity in his reporting and instead followed in the footsteps of some of his inspirations like The Daily Show or Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live.

“The first process [in making these videos] is keeping an eye out for what’s in the national news,” Oksner said. “Throughout the week, I am writing my scripts, until Sundays [when I film].”

Once Sunday hits, Oksner pulls down his dad’s green screen, and sets up the camera, lights, and microphones he has acquired from family or online. Filming can be difficult, though.

“I film for about 15-20 minutes even though [the videos] are only 60 seconds [long], [as] I make a lot of mistakes,” Oksner said. “I have to add a lot of information in a very short amount of time, so I use a lot of concise words [which] are tough to say. Sometimes I’ll say too much stuff too slowly.”

While Oksner struggles to constrict himself to 60 seconds, he has succeeded in posting his show every Sunday possible.

Goal of the show:

“The point of my show is to create a digestible recap of what is happening in national politics that some of my peers might not be aware of or pay attention to,” Oksner said. “The whole point was so people my age could get involved in politics.”

Similar to his aforementioned inspirations, Oksner uses comedy to connect this bridge between his peers and politics.

“First and foremost, I’m doing comedy,” Oksner said. “The set up [of the show] is ‘here’s what’s happening in the news [and] here’s something funny about it.”

Comedy is an integral part of Oksner’s ideals, shaping the goals he has for his show.

“Bottom line, I’m trying to make the world a better place and make people laugh,” Oksner said.

Satire, combined with his flashy editing style, helps him reach his target audience: teenagers.

“The problem with [news programs] is that they are too long,” Oksner said. “I’m a teen as well and our attention spans are gone.”

Short teenage attention spans makes intake of news and information challenging.

“I wanted to make something funny, fast, and punchy, so each story is 20 seconds at most and half of that is trying to make some joke about the situation,” Oksner said. “By having punchy editing, being visually engaging, and talking fast, [it helps] keep people my age engaged.”

Oksner’s dream of engaging with his peers has become reality, with his show achieving thousands of views on YouTube and hundreds of likes on TikTok. 

Oksner noticed that keeping teenagers entertained with unhappy news can be difficult.

“When there were the shootings in September, the video I made was more somber,” Oksner said. “That one got barely any views or traction because it wasn’t as engaging, which sucks because it was such an important thing that happened.”

With increased exposure, Oksner experiences increased recognition.

“A couple of times, people I don’t know at school will be like, ‘Yo! Are you the recap guy?’” Oksner said.

Reactions have ranged from positive to negative.

“I’ve got[ten] hate[ful] comments. I got someone saying, ‘All democrats are babies,’ which was funny,” Oksner said. “Im glad that [my show] isn’t going into an echo chamber.”

Oksner perseveres despite negative feedback and aims to reach like-minded, undecided, and misinformed people.

Political Importance:

“I can look at someone in my class when we are having discussions about politics, and they can say something that I think is the most misinformed [idea], and I can say [they’re] not a bad person for thinking that, [they’re] probably misinformed because there is so much misinformation on social media,” Oksner said.

Misinformation is everywhere online, which is part of why Oksner made his show in the first place: to inform.

“[When media propagates misinformation] I feel as someone who is well informed [and] has taken the time to learn about these things, I should tell these people, ‘Hey, that’s not true and here are these sources to back that up,’” Oksner said. “Having a source, being well informed, and also being honest and authentic [is important].”

Oksner relies primarily on information and sources to form his world view, but recognizes his own bias.

“I can’t hide the fact that I have a liberal ideology, and I think that stems from my personal moral convictions of wanting to help everyone, and I think that ideology best aligns with that,” Oksner said. “I feel so strongly that other people should be afforded [positive] opportunities [like I’ve had] and a liberal ideology simply speaks to that idea.”

Despite his liberal ideology, Oksner is eager to dispense judgement to all sides of politics.

“Given the chance to criticize [democratic] media, I would absolutely take it. But I do think, based on national politics right now, it’s very easy to criticize [republicans],” Oksner said. “But, [Democratic Minority Leader of the Senate], Chuck Schumer, oh my god I could criticize him for a long time.”

Oksner views both political parties as problematic, refusing to side with either one or put any person on a pedestal.

“I have found that partisan politics have become [pathetic],” Oksner said. “The democrats have become a bunch of squabbling liberals who have no idea what to do with themselves and then republicans have become a cult around one guy.”

Oksner views both political parties, and even both sides of the political compass, as flawed.

“I would love to call myself a centrist, but I think the political scale is totally off balance,” Oksner said. “The idea that you could be a centrist and think that some people don’t deserve rights is insane. I don’t think that’s a center view.”

The shifting of the political spectrum has led to a lot of fear and worry. Oksner feels the best way to combat this is to combat misinformation.

“Stay informed, [because] ignorance is the enemy of progress,” Oksner said. “Keep learning and watch my show.”