Local Youth
Media Collaboration "Youthtopia" Gets Major Funding
Santa
Cruz, CA – This fall Central Coast Public Radio will launch a major
collaboration designed to give local teens a voice on the airwaves.
KUSP-FM has received grants from the Benton Foundation and the Community
Foundation of Santa Cruz County to expand its teen media project, “Youthtopia,” that includes live radio and cable broadcasts and forums at local high
schools.
Teens participating in “Youthtopia” will host, produce and
appear on the air, and receive training in broadcast journalism. To
expand its community reach, KUSP has forged partnerships with Community
Television of Santa Cruz County and Population Services International
of Watsonville, a health education organization that produces the teen
magazine, “Shout Out!”
The main goals of the project are to highlight the issues facing teens
in our local community, and to give youth a central role in shaping
the media debate about those issues. These include problems as diverse
as teen pregnancy, domestic violence, substance abuse and body image.
The project builds on the success of last year’s “Youthtopia” series, which resulted in live teen radio shows on a monthly basis,
two public forums, and news coverage on local television.
“Youthtopia” will return to the air Sunday night, October
24, at 7:00 P.M. The new season borrows concepts from radio shows as
varied as “Fresh Air with Terry Gross” and “Loveline,” offering solid information in a slightly irreverent, teen-driven format.
Teens will go out with field recorders and gather interviews and sound,
then produce them into short features for airplay.
Project Director Rachel Anne Goodman says it was really the partnership
between CTSCC, KUSP and PSI that tipped the grant in KUSP's favor. “We
are very honored that the Community Foundation and the Benton Foundation
have chosen to fund Youthtopia. This grant will enable KUSP and its
partners to reach a large segment of the community with voices that
don’t normally get heard on the air.”
The Benton Foundation
grant, totaling $53,000, is one of only 35 in the United States awarded
to local public broadcasters to draw attention to health issues in their
community. Community Television of Santa Cruz County was chosen as one
of only ten media partners across the country, out of a hundred applicants.
Geoffrey Dunn, outgoing Executive Director of Community TV, has been an
enthusiastic backer of the “Youthtopia” project. “I
know what it's like to grow up in Santa Cruz County and not be heard,”
Dunn said. “The cacophony of local political discussion can be so
loud, so frenetic, that the views of young people are drowned out, discounted
or ignored. This wonderful program gives us the opportunity to give voice
where there has been silence – silence only because we haven't listened.”
The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County provided the initial $10,000
in funding for the expanded “Youthtopia” project. KUSP General
Manager Terry Green credited the Community Foundation for making the national
grant a reality. “Our ‘Youthtopia’ project has broad-based
community support. We were able to show the Sound Partners grant panel
the commitment of our local grants-makers, and I think that helped persuade
them to invest such significant resources into our program.”
The “Youthtopia” team was also granted a $3,000 scholarship
to attend the prestigious Third Coast International Audio Festival in
Chicago this month. Youth reporters will get to interact with some of
the world’s top radio producers, including Jay Allison, David Isay,
and Ira Glass. Glass’ award-winning national program, “This
American Life,” airs locally on KUSP.
Cece Penheiro, Assistant Director at Community TV, says the do-it-yourself
nature of “Youthtopia” is good news for the youth of our community.
“Kids today are inundated by mainstream media, and they need to
be educated in the last bastion of free speech, that they can BE the media.
They can take this into their own hands.”
Nan Lewicky is the Executive Director of Population Services International.
She adds, “We are extremely excited to be a partner with KUSP for
this year’s ‘Youthtopia’ program. It is a wonderful
opportunity for south county teens to learn about radio production and
the importance of getting their voices heard.”
Sound Partners for Community Health seeks to increase public awareness
of specific health issues and facilitate citizens' involvement in making
decisions affecting health care by fostering partnerships between public
broadcasters, community organizations and additional media entities. Sound
Partners is a program of the Benton Foundation and funded by The Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation.
Since 1982, the Community Foundation has worked to make Santa Cruz County
a better place to live, now and in the future. The Foundation helps local
donors to invest wisely in causes they care about, acts as a convener
and source of information about key community issues, and provides grants
and other resources to local nonprofits.
For further information, contact Rachel Anne Goodman, Project Director:
831-476-2800, rachel@well.com
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