New TUTV talk show encourages debate

Taking a sociology course in spring 2019, Mydia Alonso realized her passion for discussing social topics. 

Alonso wanted to create a platform where people could speak freely about issues that affect college students and beyond. As a result, she initiated TUTV’s newest talk show, The Temp.

“I thought that there was a lack of important issues and topics that students weren’t getting access to,” said Alonso, the show’s executive producer and junior journalism major.

The freedom and empowerment to speak about controversy is important to the show’s goal, she said.

Milly McKinnish, sophomore journalism and film major and The Temp’s director of design and graphics, said she felt that something was missing from Temple’s media and that other TUTV shows avoided political and social issues.

“We don’t want to be just another TUTV show, we want to be involved with our audience and talk about more controversial issues,” McKinnish said. She added that issues will include topics like sugar babies on campus, JUUL regulations and police brutality.

While Temple-related issues are a focus of the show, The Temp will cover topics that affect the general public. For Alonso, the goal is to be able to present all sides of any topic.

The Temp’s crew hope to include guests, such as students, professors and local representatives, who will share opinions and unique insights on topics, while engaging in healthy debate.

“We want to provide a voice to a lot of the student body here at Temple,” said Kyra Sobel, a social media team member and sophomore journalism major.

Creating The Temp required countless emails, applications and late nights, Alonso said. She praised her team for believing in her mission and journalism professor Francesca Viola for approving the show. 

The show will focus on being unbiased. Sobel hopes that viewers will be able to form their own opinions about topics.

“We have an obligation to tell you the facts and let you run with it,” she added. 

Since the beginning of August, polls posted on The Temp’s Twitter and Instagram have given viewers an outlet to express their opinion on what will be discussed. Audiences already voted on topics such as Trump tariffs and mass shootings.

The Temp crew of around 50 students hail from different colleges, including Klein College of Media and Communication, Tyler School of Art and Architecture and the College of Liberal Arts. The diversity of majors behind the show allows it to have even more unique viewpoints, according to Alonso.

The show’s production schedule is not yet confirmed, but the crew expects to have their first air date by the end of September. Each episode will be about 30 minutes. 

“It was not an easy effort, and I’m sure that this entire semester ahead of us won’t be an easy effort either,” Alonso said. “But I think that my team and I are determined enough to get our mission out there and make it happen.”