Welcome to The Newsfeed.

I'm Paris Jackson.

We're less than a month away from the November general election.

One race will determine who will lead Seattle City Hall.

Current mayor Bruce Harrell or his opponent, Katie Wilson.

Both have been making the rounds debating each other on the issues.

To attract younger voters, their campaigns are going about it in some new ways.

Cascade PBS and KNKX reporter Nate Sanford explains, some candidates are leaning into social media and interviews with podcasters and influencers.

Wilson and Harrell's campaigns are taking a much different approach to reach younger voters.

-Yeah, it's been really interesting, kind of just seeing the role of social media in this election.

It's kind of been a factor for a while, but especially this year.

The Wilson campaign especially has been really, really emphasizing short form video content as a way to reach younger voters.

They've been putting out lots of Instagram and TikTok reels and things like that.

And this is something that the Harrell campaign has only kind of really started doing after the primary.

But before that, most of what they posted on social media was clips from clips from news interviews or traditional campaign ads that aired on TV.

And the Wilson campaign has also been, really doing lots of interviews with, sort of nontraditional, media types like influencers, local podcasters, YouTubers.

And, you know, Bruce Harrell has been, I think largely sticking with, the more traditional, kind of media outlets and, talk radio and things like that.

Are these approaches working in the polls?

-Polling shows that the race is pretty close right now.

And I think, especially Katie Wilson, I think a lot of people didn't expect her to do this well, when she first, announced her campaign.

But in the primary, she came out, quite a bit ahead of Bruce Harrell.

And so there's I mean, definitely it's it's impossible to say for sure what, what the reason behind that is.

But, it does seem like she's had success with reaching a broader group of voters.

How have each candidate's approach to social media evolved over the course of their campaigns?

-Yeah.

So the Wilson campaign has been, you know, pretty consistent from the start.

You know, shortly after she announced, they had this one video, they went pretty viral on social media.

It was her kind of walking down the street with a slice of pizza, talking about how expensive everything is now.

And that that was really viral.

And her campaign manager was kind of saying like that, sort of that showed them that they were able to use this to, to reach an audience that they felt like their opponent wasn't necessarily speaking to.

And, yeah, and you know, throughout the primary, Harrell's social media presence was, a bit more minimal.

But, since then, you know, he's he's really kind of stepped it up and done a lot more of these sort of more casual, almost influencer style, videos.

Right?

Kind of out in the community holding a clip on mic, like, talking to people in the way that's pretty different from a traditional campaign ad.

What do experts see as some of the pros and cons of the expanding role of social media in elections?

-Well, one pro is just that, it's, there's kind of the money thing, right?

It's it's free to post on social media.

You don't have to pay for it like a traditional TV ad.

And so anything that's getting money out of politics is probably good.

It's also just a way to reach, much broader audience, including people who maybe aren't necessarily tuned into politics otherwise.

Right.

You can kind of connect with younger voters voters from different backgrounds.

I think one con is just that, you know, it is a medium that kind of rewards, personality and charisma and, you know, if you're someone who's really, really smart about policy stuff that maybe not that good in front of a camera and, yeah, you know, personality has always been a part of politics.

But this is definitely a medium that really rewards that.

Right?

And maybe not necessarily the sort of longer, more nuanced kind of discussion that might be valuable.

The University District Food Bank is facing increasing pressure as they serve the community.

The executive director says their food purchasing costs have quadrupled in the last five years, and recent federal cuts to SNAP will lead to a higher need for their services.

They're holding their 30th annual auction on October 18th at St Demetrios Hall in Montlake.

To register, head to UDistrictFoodBank.org.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching The Newsfeed, your destination for nonprofit Northwest news.

Go to CascadePBS.org for more great local coverage.