By Victoria White
A&E Editor
At 2 p.m. on April 6, Cameron University’s Politics Club held their first meeting in the Conwill Hall Conference Center. Instructor Justin Rose led the meeting and will serve as the club’s advisor.
The primary function of the meeting was to discuss the club’s possibilities.
Rose intends for the club to produce a political talk show, to be filmed in the Academic Commons’s television studio and to be aired as part of the Cameron University television (CUTV) lineup. He envisions the show to be a balanced look at politics.
Political Science senior Ja’Taia Burnett feels the club will be a perfect fit for Cameron.
“I feel like Cameron needs a politics club because there’s so many issues going on right now that it’s hard to not be engaged with what’s going on outside of the campus,” Burnett said. “So many of our students are talking about these issues, but there’s no outlet.”
Burnett finds the nationwide news to take up so much of the discussion that students often forget about the local issues.
“I find that we’re so used to focusing on the national news that we don’t really pay attention to what’s going on around us,” Burnett said.
Rose said the show will not only focus on national issues, but also localize discussions in order to provide a context to community topics.
“I’m hoping to bring local politicians in for interviews,” Rose said. “So it allows students to talk with our elected officials to get closer to the government, but also kind of understand how the media works as well.”
Journalism & Media Production senior Neal Kirmer is a politically-minded person and looks forward to the possibility of being able to interact with local political officials.
“I think you should be introduced to the people who are making decisions that govern your life,” Kirmer said.
For students studying Political Science and/or Journalism & Media Production, Rose sees the club aligning with their strengths. Though he will oversee the production and content, students will be conducting the interviews and performing production duties.
“It allows them to have hands-on experience with a skill that they can take and actually maybe find a job with in the future,” Rose said.
Kirmer has had a hand in the production of six different CUTV shows, but he has never worked on a political talk show.
“I’ve never been affiliated with anything like that,” Kirmer said. “I watch plenty of them. I listen to plenty of political podcasts and things of that nature, but I’m really excited to see what we have planned.”
Students should not be discouraged if they have no political or media production experience. Rose wants all interested students to join the club, regardless of their educational background.
He hopes students will have a good time and enjoy making something creative and informative together.
“To create a talk show, it’s going to be fun,” Rose said, “so hopefully [it] makes the camaraderie of being a Cameron student so much better for them.”
Rose is encouraging students of all political affiliations to participate.
“This is going to be a really bipartisan show,” Rose said. “It’s not trying to lean left, lean right. Just kind of lay out the issues.”
Rose previously hosted his own political show during his time as a Cameron student. Before graduating in 2019, Rose was the host and producer of “For the Record.”
“For the Record” was part of the CUTV lineup from 2018-2019. Rose was the sole host of the show, and each week he covered a hot-button topic and gave his take on the matter.
Rose wants to take the basis of that show and evolve it to offer an all-encompassing look, which he believes to be exactly what the university needs.
“This club is here to support the students, but also to make Cameron better,” Rose said.
For more information about the Politics Club, contact Justin Rose at jrose@cameron.edu.