Abdulai Bah of the Community News Production Institute takes pre-paid calling cards to task and suggests that white space devices could save immigrants a load of cash.

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Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies is designed to include a
diverse mix of race and ethnicities to create an inclusive learning
experience.

That directive translated into Radio Rootz’ classroom at
BCS. Middle school students ages 12 – 14 already had an understanding
of each other but learned about their fellow classmates as they
explored their own culture through lessons in media literacy and radio
production.

Our middle school students at the
Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies outdid themselves this year. 
Our group of 12-14 students produced regular coverage for local broadcast,
and even reported and produced a national news story heard on more than
100 stations around the country.   They covered serious issues
with humor, like a report produced by three female students on the pros
and cons of being a girl.  They covered serious issues seriously
too.  One student, whose mother works for the city’s Administration
for Child Services, interviewed his mother about her job in the wake
of the Nixmary Brown case.   

They also learned a lot about media
literacy, advertising, and media policy.  We are often told that
you can’t teach children about media consolidation, for example, but
an exercise we have developed shows how wrong that is.  We ask
our students to map out their dream radio station, pushing them to be
creative and diverse in their programming.  Once they have blocked
out all of their wonderful programming ideas, we begin to merge their
“stations” as they get bought up. As they negotiate with their fellow
students about what programs will remain on the merged stations, they
see how so often consolidation results in the lowest common denominator
of programming.   

We also spent a lot of class time
discussing stereotypes of young people in the media, particularly young
people of color in urban areas, like them.  We regularly looked
at the New York Daily News, picking out all the stories that mentioned
young people and explored how they were represented.  How often
are they presented as criminals, or as victims?  How often are
they quoted, given the chance to speak in their own voices?  How
often are they presented as making a positive contribution to their
community?  For young people who begin the year seeing the news
as objective fact, realizing that editors and reporters make choices
about the stories they cover, how they frame them, and who they quote,
is a powerful experience, and one that they will carry with them.   

One student, whose father is serving
in Iraq, recorded audio diaries of her feelings about his absence and
the war.  They are among the most powerful critiques of the current
war in Iraq that we have heard anywhere.  And one of our proudest
moments at BCS came when two students whose parents are undocumented
immigrant recorded a story on the proposed immigration legislation and
the possible deportation of people like their parents.  They asked
fellow students what they thought of the immigration law changes, attended
the massive may 1^st rallies, and edited the piece themselves. 

AUDIO COMING VERY SOON! please come back to listen to this powerful youth produced radio. 

It’s our first year
teaching at Vanguard school and so far the experience has been great.

We have a close relationship with the administration; they have been
very supportive of our program. Jaleel, Jose, Crystal, Irene, Luis,
Neesha, Jeremy, Taquana and Joshua are our fabulous students. It’s a
very dynamic group; each student is very special. Neesha and Luis are aspiring artists and are so comfortable talking on the mic. Joshua has
all the computer skills and is good at editing. Jaleel is always quiet
but on point. Jeremy, on the other hand, is very energetic and always
participates.

Together this group vibrates. Our class discussions go
above and beyond. So far we’ve covered topics like media stereotypes,
bias in the media, and interviewing skills. The students have learned
how to use minidisk recorders and how to edit using Adobe. We still
need some work on multitrack editing and need to improve recording with
better levels. Currently, we are starting to work on our final project,
the radio documentary.

They’re just getting started. They’re in the
first stage, pre-production, which includes coming up with the subject
matter, conducting research, and contacting experts on each topic.

Open in Fall 2005, The South Bronx Academy of Applied Media is a
middle school where students, or “scholars” have a chance to be
creative in ways beyond art and music.

Radio Rootz holds an after
school class open to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who are interested in
radio production and media. This is the only middle school Radio Rootz
teaches in and these young scholars present great talent and potential.

These bright scholars have the chance to explore and document issues
about their school and their community. The students have quickly
picked up radio production skills and at the same time are learning
about the media and what it is. The Radio Rootz team has successfully
completed a piece about their annual celebration of Spirit Week and is
currently working on a project about their community of the South Bronx.