Thousands of youth benefit from Youth Radio Programs

In its 10 year existence, Youth Radio (a ZeroDivide grantee) has trained some 10,000 urban kids in broadcast journalism; recording; engineering; editing, audio, video and music production; Web design and production; and media literacy and advocacy in 12-week sessions conducted after school hours.

In an article by Ben Fong-Torres, Youth Radio: Off the streets, onto the air he writes about Youth Radio's current impact on the radio industry.

A former reporter for Pacifica Radio, founder, president and chief content officer Ellin O'Leary started Youth Radio with Bay Area high school students interested in violence prevention.

Youth Radio accepts students ranging from 12 to 24 in age, many of them what the organization calls "underserved youth," many of them from low-income families. They can go through several levels, from a beginning core program to advanced training, which can lead to jobs and, in many cases, internships at Youth Radio.

Youth Radio alum, Jacinda Abcarian, the executive director, graduated in 1993 and became a peer teacher before going to college and working in media. Youth Radio has forged partnerships with numerous major media outlets - from local radio stations and newspapers (including The Chronicle) to National Public Radio and TV networks - and its work is read and heard internationally, but it "is not about glamour. It's about preserving hope," says Abcarian, the executive director.

Youth Radio's success stories also include news stories initiated by its reporters. One piece, about abuse inside a U.S. Navy canine unit, came out of an interview at a Proposition 8 protest last summer, when Youth Radio, working alongside KQED-FM, met a former sailor who spoke about being a victim of abuse. Subsequent stories led to investigations by the secretary of the Navy's office and the release of the unit's chief.

A few of Youth Radio's success stories, include Rynell Williams, now known as Showbiz, a DJ on KDON-FM in Monterey; Anita Johnson, producer of "Hard Knock Radio" on KPFA; and Megan Williams, who joined the staff of NPR's "Talk of the Nation."