The first election I remember is 1976. In Baltimore, there were gas lines at the service station by my local library, and most people were feeling the economic pinch. Coming from a politically grounded family that watched the news every night over dinner, I began to understand the links between politics and how my family and city were doing. That meant everything from the gas lines to whether or not there were free summer camps for me and my sister.

Two decades later, I found myself in the privileged position of being recruited as a CNN youth political analyst for election 1996. I got to travel. I got to make media—national media. And it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life.

But one thing was missing: a lot of the people my age just didn’t watch CNN, or any cable or network news. They weren’t reading newspapers or listening to radio news either. I had the great fortune to reach a diverse group of young people where they “lived” as a contributing political editor for Vibe magazine. But Vibe was only once a month… with a three month lead time. I wanted to do something that reached people my age whenever I had news to share.

So, with the help of a digitally-minded friend, I created a website called PopandPolitics.com. Years before people began using the term blog, it was just that—a weblog of stories from the campaign trail, as I went from Black Republican barbecues to hanging out with Chris Rock at a hotel in frozen New Hampshire. I talked about politics with a pop culture edge, in ways that people my age could be and were interested in.

And people responded in ways I couldn’t anticipate: mainly by asking if they could write for PopandPolitics.com. So over the years, Pop and Politics expanded from a solo blog to a group blog to a group website with content exchanges with everyone from The Chicago Sun-Times to Black College Wire.

Flash forward to Election 2008. America is now emerging into its promise as a truly multi-racial democracy, though certainly not without some growing pains. The diversity of candidates in the Presidential race is a clear sign of the shifts in American life and culture. But an even bigger story is the emergence of millions of young, first-time voters who have come to the polls to have their say. This country is awakening to its own possibility. And all of us have a role to play. Our role at Pop and Politics—and your role, as a valuable supporter– is to ensure that we have a free, democratic media than can speak the same language as young Americans.

This year I was saddened when the company where I first worked as a journalist, Newsweek Magazine, offered a buyout package to some of the best reporters in the country. Over one hundred staffers (even more than the magazine wanted) took the offer. I think some of them had just given up, because it’s clear that within the shrinking magazine, the kind of journalism they had done before was just not possible anymore. Newspapers across the country are also in economic trouble, and they’re passing those woes on by cutting reporting staffs. The same is true at many national and local television outlets.

If you don’t think reporting matters, take a second look at the coverage of the Iraq War, the real estate and economic crisis, and America’s education policy. In every case, strong reporters have reshaped our knowledge and allowed us to take action; while lapses in reporting have hurt our ability to make good decisions in communities and as a nation.

But there’s one group of young reporters who are consistently getting jobs in the field… and able to make a difference. Those are multi-media journalists, people who can combine text, audio, and video in online media. They’re getting jobs at big newspaper, radio and television companies; and they’re also starting their own blogs and publications. Often, they’re able to speak to people their age in ways that other media can’t or hasn’t.

Pop and Politics helps foster the important three-way connection between citizens, media, and democracy. By writing and distributing online content through PopandPolitics.com, we make a difference in political awareness right now. And by training ace multimedia journalists we ensure that there will be politically savvy, culturally aware (and funny… did I mention funny?) journalists who will have long, storied careers and give us the information we as citizens need over the course of many decades.

Our work is hitting its mark. The students we’ve trained have gone on to win a slew of awards and prizes, and work for and contribute to publications such as Mother Jones, Business 2.0, Alternet.org, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, The Washington Post and The LA Times.  Others have founded their own alternative journalism websites, including the hip-hop culture site OhDang! and the diaspora site Squareroots.

Now, at precisely the right time, we’re going even deeper into our training and our political and cultural coverage. Just as election 2008 nears its peak, we are becoming a Digital Learning Lab within the School of Journalism at the University of Southern California. With Pop and Politics, our editors and contributors get to re-make and re-mix election coverage 2008; our 18-29 year old readers have a home base for work that matters to them; and we all get the chance to support democratic media in action. I hope you’ll support us on our journey… and it is our shared journey.

—Farai Chideya