Seen and Heard Contest Opens...

The McCormick Freedom Museum is now accepting entries for its annual contest, Seen & Heard: National Student Expression Contest and Exhibit. Top entries to be exhibited at the Freedom Museum from April 11-May 31, 2009. More than $6,000 in prizes. For more information, click here:
http://www.freedommuseum.us/seenandheard

Online Time Makes Teens Lazy - Or Just Smarter?

The most extensive U.S. study on teens and use of digital media finds
that America's youth develop important social and technical skills
online, often in ways adults do not understand or value. "It might
surprise parents to learn that it is not a waste of time for their teens
to hang out online," said Mizuko Ito, University of California, Irvine
researcher and the report's lead author.

Released this week at the American Anthropological Association's annual
meeting, the extensive study was funded by the John D. and Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation's digital media and learning initiative. The
$50-million initiative is exploring how digital media is changing how
young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life.

"There are myths about kids spending time online - that it is dangerous or
making them lazy," said Ito. "But we found that spending time online is
essential for young people to pick up the social and technical skills
they need to be competent citizens in the digital age."

To see the report, click here

New Grant to Track Immigration Voting Patterns

The McCormick Foundation's Journalism Program approved a grant two weeks ago that will expose Chicago-area teens to radio journalism and energize their already growing enthusiasm for the electoral process. Over coming weeks the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) will provide training to some 60-75 teens in the basics of journalism and radio production. In addition, teens will conduct exit polling at voting places throughout the city and suburbs to better understand immigrant attitudes toward the Nov. 4 presidential election and a variety of key issues. The short-term project is a collaboration between ICIRR, Mikva Challenge, the Chicago Public Schools Service Learning, Univision Radio and the Asian American Institute.

Young Adults "Voting" For Less Bombardment in Election Coverage

Teens are avoiding online election coverage that provides too much detail and overwhelms them, according to a new study released by the Media Management Center (MMC) at Northwestern University, an MF grantee. Young people care about the 2008 election, but don't "want to spend much time following day-to-day developments," according to the Center.

The full qualitative study, "From 'Too Much' to 'Just Right': Engaging Millenials in Election News on the Web," examined the tastes of 89 diverse Chicago-area adults ages 17-22. The findings are online at: http://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/research/youthelection.pdf.

This in-depth look at news consumption provides some valuable insights for capturing and engaging young people around election news. For one, "news organizations need to develop online election resources that are specifically designed to minimize this 'too much' sensation," according to Mike Smith, MMC executive director. For more tips, check out the full study.

Nice job FSM!

The Tribune had a piece today highlighting the work of Jeff McCarter and Free Spirit Media. FSM's piece "Will I Be Next?" will be featured at the upcoming Peace on Earth Film Festival. Kudos to film maker Raphael Rollins, age 19. To see the Trib's piece click here. And to see Raphael's piece on YouTube, click here.

Free Chicago Ethnic Media Directory

The Community Media Workshop (www.newstips.org) has just released a free beta-version of its Chicago Ethnic Media Directory online. This useful directory, which includes basic audience and contact information for more than 200 Chicago-area ethnic media outlets, is accessible by registering here: http://www.newstips.org/interior.php?section=Resources&main_id=889. This is the first organized, comprehensive ethnic media-exclusive media directory for the Chicago-area.

CMW's directory is just one useful tool the organization has generated as part of an MF-funded ethnic media initiative. They are also conducing research on the needs of the sector, along with hosting various meetings and trainings for ethnic media.

What Kids Can Really Do

The group What Kids Can Do recently completed an inspired program involving three Chicago high school classes. The McCormick-supported project asked participating teens to identify a profession that interested them. Student then interviewed and photographed professionals in the selected field. The results can be reviewed online at http://www.whatkidscando.org/featurestories/2008/06_practice/index.html.

The Web site includes:
The narrative and photographs that resulted from students’ interviews with adults
An audio slideshow of students reflecting on the importance of practice and hard work
A curriculum overview of WKCD’s process in developing this project

TRUESTAR & YO! on Violence in Chitown

YO!TV and New America Media of the Bay Area covered TRUESTAR magazine's inspiring recent event "No Weapons Just Two Steppin.'" Hear the point of view of Chicago teens - and witness some amazing dance at
http://www.youthoutlook.org/news.

Journalist Ruben Salazar Honored with Postage Stamp

A U.S. postal stamp honoring Latino journalist Ruben Salazar, a Mexican-American news reporter killed by police on August 29, 1970, is to be officially issued on April 22. Salazar, who was born in 1928 and wrote for the L.A. Times and served as news director for KMEX in Los Angeles, was killed during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in East Los Angeles, CA. Stamps honoring four other journalists – Martha Gellhorn, John Hersey, George Polk and Eric Sevareid are also going to be issued the same day. This is the first stamp honoring a Latino journalist ever issued.

See a commentary piece by Dr. Roberto Cintli Rodriguez that appeared in La Prensa San Diego here: http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=f04bd70dcddc6195f6200680ea8c5109

2 Huge Youth Media Events Rock Chicago

This past Sunday night (March 9) Young Chicago Authors (YCA)celebrated its 8th annual “Louder Than A Bomb” teen poetry slam. It was nothing short of a huge hit! Highlights included a new venue – the Vic Theater, a surprise performance by GLC (“Drive Slow”), and documentary film makers (Siskel/Jacobs Productions and Free Spirit Media) covering the entire event. (Watch for the documentary they’re producing on YCA, to be released later this year.) But the main highlight as always was teen poetry at its best – including a surprise performance by 11-12 year olds from Ravenswood Elementary.


On Tuesday, March 11 Roosevelt University hosted its annual Scholastic Press Association of Chicago high school journalism workshops and awards ceremony. This year more than 300 high school students and their journalism advisers attended workshops on a variety of topics including coverage of entertainment, interviewing skills and credibility. The workshops were great – but energy levels rose afterwards with the teen awards at the Chicago Cultural Center (pictured). Prizes went out for a variety of categories – best editorial cartoon, sports reporting, design & layout, etc.

Students Catching Political Fever

The heated political rhetoric and captivating ideas of the presidential candidates is generating a lot of buzz among students. Here are some of the impressive initiatives that involve young people reporting and blogging about the election process.
• Daily Kos: University of Washington professor David Domke is leading a group of UW students in reporting and blogging around the elections. They’ve reported in Washington state and Idaho and are now blanketing Texas. Their coverage has caught the attention of the Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times and the Huffington Post. See http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/3/4/04242/68517 for more.
• Collaborations: Two teen initiatives, What Kids Can Do (Providence, R.I) and Y-Press (Indianapolis), have teamed up on campaign coverage and plan to blog together for the next 10 months. See http://www.whatkidscando.org/youth_on_the_trail/y-press_intro.html for the first posts.
• New America Media: NAM's YO! Youth Outlook has been posting a youth media blog-a-thon for the past few weeks. It includes a call out to other youth bloggers to join in on the action. See their blog at http://youthoutlook.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=89b2ad995e5cce45a27514fdd7312838.
• The group Mikva Challenge sent a group of teenagers to New Hampshire to cover the primaries there. The reporting they did is posted here (http://mikvainnewhampshire08.blogspot.com).

Northwestern University’s Media Management Center, with Ethics and Excellence in Journalism funding, will be conducting research later this year to identify techniques and strategies news organizations can use online to deepen teen interest in serious news. MMC is looking for recommendations about web sites that should appeal to young people interested in following the ’08 election. Contact Vivian Vahlberg at v-vahlberg@northwestern.edu. The upcoming research is a follow-up to MMC's "If It Catches My Eye: An Exploration of Online News Experiences of Teenagers," report, which was funded by McCormick Tribune Foundation.

Motown Blazes Way in Teen Journalism + The Environment

How do you get urban teens interested in journalism? And to make it an even taller order – in environmental journalism, math and science?

We can all learn from what they’re doing in Detroit. The lessons drawn from the 3rd annual city-wide high school journalism conference (“Steroids, Makeup and Polar Bears: Journalism and the Environment”) that took place Wed. Feb. 27 read like a How To:

* First, invite some 200 DPS students and their journalism advisors/chaperones to take a day away from school
* Host the event at the very impressive Detroit Zoo, which has a great educational facility and interactive exhibits and an amazing array of guest ‘speakers’ from amphibians of all kinds to polar bears and arctic foxes
* Ask a group of high energy experts to organize and manage the program. In this case, vision and leadership came from committed people like Jim Detjen (director of Michigan StateUniversity’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism), Cheryl Pell (director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association) and Emilia Askari of the Detroit Free Press
* Shape the agenda around topics that are relevant and news worthy to teen reporters, such as - steroids use, environmental justice, the dangers of make up, global warming and teen depression
* Invite local anchors like Carolyn Clifford and meteorologist Andrew Humphrey to provide truly inspirational opening remarks
* Ask eager young reporters like Chris Lau and Kirkland Crawford of the Detroit Free Press (who aren’t that far removed from high school themselves) to moderate sessions
* Oh, and finally have the whole thing piggyback on the steady coaching and nurturing of local talent by the likes of Erin Hill of the Detroit Free Press who heads the newspaper's inspired high school journalism initiative

Then add the energy, curiosity and giddiness of more than 200 high school students and you’ve got the mix for a winner. The high points of such an event are numerous but one stood out for me. At the end of his talk meteorologist Humphrey asked how many of the seniors in the audience were registered to vote. He then opened his bag and had voter registration forms distributed to all those that weren't.

Successful youth journalism programs like this are, after all, about much more than journalism alone. They're about inspiring young minds and opening up career possibilities but also about kick-starting interest in our communities and country and civic participation in our democratic society.

But what a great place to start.

LA Youth: Exploring Teen Issues for 20 Years

A story in the Los Angeles Times over the weekend praises the work of MTF grantee LA Youth (www.layouth.com), a city-wide teen paper that has celebrated youth perspectives for 20 years. Founded by teacher and mother of three Donna Myrow after the U.S. Supreme Court gave principals the right to censor school papers, LA Youth is described as a ‘confessional of sorts’ and even something of an ‘emotional repository’ for teens. But for grown-ups, the piece says, LA Youth ‘is a peek into a parallel universe – a display of unflinching adolescent honesty and our region’s dizzying diversity.” The teen reporting in LA Youth over the years has raised a number of issues dealing with teen mental health and also included investigative pieces on kids wrongly confined in mental hospitals and manhandled by local police.

An Unhappy Anniversary for Youth Media

YM practitioners might be interested in the state of free expression in public schools.....

Twenty years ago this week the U.S. Supreme Court sent forth a ruling in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier that continues to erode student free expression today. In the landmark case, the court ruled that principals had the right to censor school publications if they felt the content could be "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns." In that case, it meant the principal was allowed to remove articles about pregnancy and divorce in a high school newspaper.

The precedent has meant principals have felt increasingly comfortable exercising prior review and prior restraint.

"Not only has it (the ruling) changed the way journalism is taught at many schools, it has made it more difficult for high school students to learn the important lessons about democracy that come from publishing -- or simply reading -- serious newspapers," writes journalist Robert Just in the Washington Post.

To learn more, check out Just's column here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011102775.html

Radio Arte Student is Headed to NU

Congratulations go out to Estefanie Garcia, a student of First Voice, Radio Arte's flagship news program. Estefanie was recently admitted into Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Kudos!

From Radio Arte's newsletter: “I believe that the happiest moment of my life was when I found out that I had been accepted into Northwestern University . When I had first started my application, I had selected to apply as undecided for my major. Towards the end of the summer, though, I began to consider a career in journalism. This new-found interest led me to apply to the training program at Radio Arte. With the journalism and radio classes that were given, I saw that I enjoyed this field of work which led me to apply to the Medill School of Journalism. Northwestern will be a new and possibly scary experience, but I feel confident that the training and experience that I have received at Radio Arte will help me succeed.”

"If It Catches My Eye"

Northwestern University's Media Management Center has just published a new report, "If it catches my eye: An exploration of online news experiences of teenagers." For those interested about how teens use the internet this is must reading.

The in-depth study examined a diverse group of 65 Chicago-area teens. In summary, it found:
+ That news isn't that important to teens right now. Following news on politics, government, public affairs, etc. is stressful for teens. It reminds them of the peril in the world.
+ Local news sites aren't on their radar screens. Teens are seeing news that pops up in front of them from large Internet portals and news aggregators; they're not going out of their way for news.
+ However, teens do show interest in news in certain circumstances. In interviews for the study, they repeatedly used the phrase “I will read it IF IT CATCHES MY EYE.” Teens will read about a variety of news topics – if the subject interests them or if there is stimulating video, pictures, humorous or weird news, etc.

The report goes on to discuss the characteristics of sites that teens turn to most often for news AND to make recommendations to news organizations on ways to attract teens.

To see the full report go to http://www.mediamanagementcenter.org/research/teeninternetstudy.pdf