YG Media Makes an Effort to Improve the Section’s Organization and Efficiency
When you hear the words “Youth and Government,” your mind likely jumps to the concept of law and the idea of it being carried out (for example, the Legislative or Judicial Branch). However, YG extends beyond this. The YMCA program encompasses not only the process of law but also the coverage of it.
This is where Media comes in. Media is a section in YG that focuses on accurately providing accounts of events occurring in and around the program. In other words, Media equals journalism. Although still small, the branch has garnered traction despite not being very well-known to participants in YG and those from outside the program.
For example, Sophomore Medha Rapuri from Greenhill School is, like many others, a first-year Media delegate. Rapuri had made the switch over to Media after having participated in the Legislative branch Freshman year. Rapuri expresses that her motivation to join the section was sparked by the desire to be an “observer rather than a participant.” After having the last media member in her section graduate last year, Rapuri believed this year was the “perfect time to transition.”
Fellow Media delegate and first-year YG member Elaine Engel states that her motivation to join Media was prompted by being a part of her “school’s newspaper staff.” After learning about the YG press corp, Engel started to desire a “taste of what being a journalist in the capital” is like.
Despite the section’s success in carrying out what it had intended, there was still a potential to improve the branch. Therefore, as of the 2024 TXYG State Conference, the department has undergone some small but impactful changes. Due to the overall disorganization and inefficiency of the section last year and the years prior, many (both delegates and adults alike) believe Media has been overdue for some refurbishing.
Rapuri states that the state conference was “quite organized” this year. “I thought the assignments were well explained, and I was able to understand everything,” Rapuri expresses. “This [state conference] was a lot better than my experience at districts as everything was new to me.”
According to Engel, the “independence and creativeness” that Media allows is especially enjoyable. Essentially, the choice to continue the overall free as well as “self-determined and self-driven” nature of Media has been a benefit to, like Engel, many Media delegates.
Although Media has been notoriously under-appreciated and, for the most part, flown under the radar for many, the changes the section has started to recently implement truly harbors the potential to expand Media both as a section and a tool for others.
Written by: Eliza Pepito, Garland High School