'UCTV Prime: Vote' Advances YouTube Election Coverage With Research-Backed Analysis, Commentary by UC Faculty

LA JOLLA, Calif., March 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the midst of election season, there is no shortage of frenzied news coverage and high-volume opinion sharing. UCTV Prime, a YouTube original channel from the University of California, elevates the level of discourse with "Prime: Vote," a recurring series of short videos featuring prominent UC faculty offering reasoned, rational discussion and commentary -- backed by academic research -- on issues being raised in the public debate during the 2012 election season. The video segments are available on the UCTV Prime YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/uctvprime) and the "Prime: Vote" website (http://www.uctv.tv/primevote), with new content posted every two weeks.

"Prime: Vote" launched with three video commentaries with faculty from three different UC campuses. The first, "The High Cost of Austerity," features Peter Gourevitch, political scientist and founding dean of the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies at UC San Diego, on the historical justification for government spending versus austerity to boost the economy.

In "Incumbents, Are You Listening?" UC Merced political scientist Jessica Trounstine describes factors that affect how incumbents respond to voters and argues that the presence of a local newspaper, along with information on ballots, registration and polling places, increase the responsiveness of incumbents to their constituents.

UC Davis economist Giovanni Peri rounds out the trio with "The Case for Immigration," arguing that immigration helps the U.S. economy. He calls for reforms that would include granting more H1B visas for highly skilled workers and creating temporary visas for low skilled workers who have job offers from U.S. Employers.

On April 3, "Prime: Vote" shifts from commentary to analysis when UC San Diego's Thad Kousser interviews UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck, a noted expert in political messaging. UCTV Prime is asking viewers with a question about political messaging for Professor Vavreck to email it to [email protected] by March 21 at Noon Pacific.

UCTV Prime launched March 1 as the first university-run channel to be included among YouTube's new production partnerships with recognizable brands like The Wall Street Journal, Madonna and TED. With documentary mini-series, interviews, commentaries and video shorts each week, UCTV Prime brings to light the innovations, trends, issues and personalities that shape our world, drawing on the tremendous knowledge resources of the University of California's ten campuses, five medical schools, three national labs and other affiliated institutions.

YouTube users can subscribe to UCTV Prime at http://www.youtube.com/uctvprime to keep up on the latest programs and browse related playlists populated by content from UCTV's robust YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/uctv) and other UC YouTube channels. The UCTV Prime website (http://www.uctv.tv/prime) complements the channel with direct viewer engagement through related blog posts, viewer polls and other interactive features.

UCTV Prime is one of around one hundred original channels on the YouTube platform created specifically for today's connected viewers around the world. The new advertising-supported channels feature well-known personalities and content producers from TV, film, music, news, and sports, as well as some of the most innovative new media companies in the world and some of YouTube's own existing partners, including UCTV, which operates one of YouTube's most popular education channels, with 50,000 subscribers and over 4,800 videos.

Based on the UC San Diego campus, UCTV presents educational and enrichment programming from the campuses, national laboratories, and affiliated institutions of the University of California. UCTV delivers science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities and the arts to a general audience, as well as specialized programming for health care professionals, teachers and researchers. UCTV is available worldwide via live stream, video archives and podcasting at http://www.uctv.tv, on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/uctv and http://www.youtube.com/uctvprime, on iTunesU in the Beyond Campus section, and on cable in select cities throughout California. For a complete list of UCTV's outlets, visit http://www.uctv.tv/wheretowatch.

SOURCE University of California San Diego Extension