Hi all,
The seasons of nature epitomize change, and as we move into fall, I’m excited to join the outstanding Issue Media Group team. Our solutions-based, issue-focused reporting is a vital part of the work we do here.
As the back-to-school season approaches, I want to highlight some of the journalism we’re doing around youth and education across the IMG network. This year, IMG teamed up with the Michigan After School Partnership (MASP) to elevate youth perspectives on after-school programs through our Voices of Youth initiative. Youth journalists have covered a wide range of topics, from advisory councils to climate change and entrepreneurship.
In Cincinnati, Soapbox’s Amplifying Youth Voices series focuses on youth mental health and community-based solutions. The series, underwritten by Interact for Health, seeks to advance health justice and community power.
Additionally, our reporting on Ann Arbor’s Freedom School in Concentrate shines a light on fostering literacy, leadership, and empowerment among youth.
By elevating young voices, we empower the next generation to overcome challenges and thrive.
Do you work with youth whose voices should be elevated to community members and policymakers? Let's talk about how we might partner.
Thanks for reading,
John Montgomery
CEO
Issue Media Group
Inside IMG
Inside IMG
![monopoly]()
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
This year IMG teamed up with the
Michigan After School Partnership (MASP) to elevate youth perspectives on the value of after-school programs through our Voices of Youth program. MASP advocates for statewide access to quality and equitable after-school programs, to ensure that all children and youth succeed. The year-long series has included youth voices in multiple IMG communities, including
Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave,
Rapid Growth, and
Concentrate. Articles have focused on a wide range of after-school programs, including youth advisory councils, climate change events, and clubs focused on entrepreneurship.
Inside IMG
![freedomschool]()
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
This summer,
Concentrate hosted a special "Freedom School" edition of the Voices of Youth program in partnership with the Washtenaw Intermediate School District and Washtenaw My Brother's Keeper.
Project Editor Aaron Foley and mentor Jaishree Drepaul worked with a group of about 10 young people in Ypsilanti twice a week for six weeks. The youth learned the basics of journalism, discussing how a newsroom works, how to construct a story, how to conduct interviews, and more. Participating youth were paid for completed work, which included
a story and photography about video games' impact on young people and video of an interview the young people conducted.
Inside IMG
![amplifyingyouth]()
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
In
Soapbox Cincinnati, the
Amplifying Youth Voices series raises awareness about youth mental health by reporting on community-based solutions. Stories and videos feature youth-serving grantees plus medical, nonprofit, education and philanthropic leaders. Grantees empowered youth to create change through projects and experiences providing them a voice that was seen, heard, and valued during a fast-paced timeline to initiate solutions.
Amplifying Youth Voices is a pilot program from
Interact for Health, a foundation serving a 20-county region to advance health justice. More healthcare organizations are coming together to respond to this challenge, testing with solutions-based processes and gathering data to determine a wider 10-year strategy. Solutions journalism reporting is an ideal match to explain, in a clear-eyed way, how local people are working together to solve a shared problem.
Read the Amplifying Youth Voices series
here.
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