Dear Reader:
We are very excited to launch Youth Media Reporter, a web journal sponsored by the Open Society Institute’s Youth Initiatives program. Designed as a forum for stakeholders in the youth media field, Youth Media Reporter will discuss emerging ideas, trends, and practices, and will deepen and extend knowledge about the developing field. We are pleased to announce that Kendra Hurley, an accomplished journalist and veteran youth media professional, is the editor of Youth Media Reporter. Kendra is also a managing editor at Youth Communication, where she served as editor of Represent, a magazine for and by youth in the foster care system, from 1998 to 2004. She has written for publications including USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor, City Limits, and Child Welfare Watch. She earned an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University.
Youth Media Reporter aims to be a dynamic publication that reflects the richness and diversity within the youth media field. This growing community of programs represents a landscape in which young people are participating in a process of collaborative inquiry, communication, production, and distribution, thereby providing audiences with compelling and unique perspectives about their experiences, their hopes, and their communities. While programming approaches and methodologies vary among organizations, there remains a commitment to involving the most hard-to-reach and isolated youth. Practitioners, scholars, and researchers are increasingly interested in learning more about program practices, the range of themes discussed in the media, the means of media distribution, and the media’s impact on audiences.
We hope that you find the articles/discussions vital and informative. We look forward to hearing from you as you contribute your ideas and suggestions for future articles and topics.
Sincerely,
Erlin Ibreck
Director, Youth Initiatives
Open Society Institute
Anna Lefer
Program Officer, Youth Initiatives
Open Society Institute