| No Images? Click here   For millennial Mormons in Utah, one of the most conservative states in the nation, it’s long been undesirable to call yourself a Democrat. Now, almost nine months into Donald Trump’s presidency, it’s increasingly taboo to identify as a Republican as well, according to interviews conducted by HuffPost and student reporters from Brigham Young University.While the findings were not scientific, the anecdotes followed a pattern. Many said they were motivated by individual candidates and causes, rather than political parties. Very few offered praise for the president. Melissa Jelsten, who led the project, explained how they got the story.What was the seed for the story?Provo, Utah was one of the stops on HuffPost’s Listen To America tour (more about the initiative here). We chose to partner with The Daily Universe, Brigham Young University’s student newspaper, to produce a story on millennial Mormons. We were especially interested in learning how they were reacting to this particular political moment. Historically, Mormons are very conservative and vote Republican. We wanted to know how they were currently feeling about President Donald Trump, and the GOP.How did you coordinate working with a large group of students to get the reporting you needed?Well, it was a challenge! Fifteen students conducted interviews with about 60 Utah millennials, as well as a handful of experts in political science. They sent me the transcripts of their interviews to review. Then, in class, I had the students present the most interesting findings from their interviews. Working together, we identified the main themes in their reporting, and outlined a structure for the piece.What was most surprising about the reporting?I think it was surprising, at least to me, the extent with which the millennials interviewed did not identify as Republican or Democrat. These students had, for the most part, grown up in very conservative families who consistently voted GOP. But when they looked to the two parties, they didn’t see anything they connected with.Most challenging?I didn’t want the story to oversimplify the Mormon millennial experience, or paint an inaccurate picture. We made sure to point out in the piece that it was an anecdotal look at a subsection of students in Provo, and not necessarily reflective of all young Mormons.What else would you like readers to know?The journalism students who I worked with at BYU were enthusiastic, intelligent and eager to leave their imprint on the media world. In journalism circles, we often talk about the need to diversify our newsrooms. Meeting these students and hearing their unique perspectives further impressed on me the importance of recruiting journalists from different religious backgrounds. Their voices deserve to be heard, too.
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