Member Monday- Frank Hopper

Frank and co-founder Jessie Garber

Frank Hopper, a junior Illinois State University PRSSA member, is the co-founder of the website The Millenico Agenda, a news and politics site targeted at millennials.

What is the purpose behind your newly launched website, The Millenico Agenda?

My co-founder Jessie Garber and I are both very interested in news and politics. We were interested in educating our generation to becoming informed electorates, and to make decisions and speak intelligently about those decisions. We thought about why and how we get our news. One of the things we noticed was that the important news is often in the middle of the story. It’s not breaking news anymore; it’s the middle of the story. We wanted to do something where we organize the facts in a way that is easier to access and understand.

Where did the name for the website come from?

To break it down, “Millenico” comes from our generation – the “millennials” – combined with “politico” (political) and “agenda,” as in the news agenda.

Who is the website’s target audience?

Our website is designed for twenty-somethings, or “millennials.” It’s gotten pretty big since we launched on Oct. 11 of this year. We want to inform millennials about our nation’s current political agenda and spark political conversation among them.

We launched at a good time because of the government shutdown. We posted about Syria as well. It was sort of a test post, but we were confident in the material. After that, we started posting about the government shutdown, Obamacare and the debt ceiling. We’ve started reaching out to College Democrats and Republicans at other universities and asking them to spread the word.

How did you prepare for the website launch?

On Tuesday, Oct. 8 I texted Jessie the idea for the website. We met up after the meeting that night. We worked until about 3 a.m. then didn’t touch it for a couple days. Finally, we finished it up and launched that Friday.

What are your goals for the website?

One goal is to reach all 50 states before my birthday, Dec. 2. We want it to be big, but it’s dependent on our own social circles right now. Our overall goal is a future with a civically engaged and informed electorate. Also, right now our blog is very apolitical. We aim to have it as unbiased as can be. We’d eventually like to put some opinion on the site, though not necessarily ours. I envision having red and blue sections, with two guest bloggers writing on the same issue, and posting them side-by-side.

Do you have any influences for your website?

Jessie and I both really like The Huffington Post. I am also a fan of the BBC. If you ever need basic information on a topic, you can usually find it on the BBC.

Check out The Millenico Agenda at http://www.millenicoagenda.com.


Questions composed by Cassidy Obis

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