Youth Media Organizations

Following are several local and national youth-led media organizations that youth researchers at The Freechild Project have identified. These organizations help youth create their own newspapers, websites and books, sharing the perspectives of young people with parents, teachers, youth workers, and other youth.

Organizations

HarlemLive (New York, NY) - A journalism, technology and leadership program that teaches students ages 13 to 21 how to run an online newspaper.

Uth TV (San Francisco, CA) - Youth-created media program that offers two television programs on UPN in the Bay Area, in addition to video, music, spoken word, comedy, fashion and more.

Street Level Youth Media (Chicago, IL) - Educates youth about media issues and creation, and features youth-created projects and resources.

Reel Grrls (Seattle, WA) - A unique after-school media & technology training program that empowers girls to critique media images and to gain media technology skills in a safe, open environment, mentored by a network of multi-cultural women media professionals.
 

Y-Press (Indianapolis, IN) - A youth media organization that produces print, radio and Web stories.

YO! (Youth Outlook) (San Francisco, CA) - A monthly newspaper by and about young people, which syndicates articles with photography, interviews, reporting and fiction writing to newspapers across the U.S.
 

True Star Foundation (Chicago, IL) - Produces a quarterly publication geared to urban teens, ages 12-18 and has a readership of 100,000 through an after school and summer program that offers paid apprenticeship opportunities to over 150 students in the Chicago area.
 

Just Think (San Francisco, CA) - Teaches young people to understand the words and images in media, and think for themselves.

AnimAction (Hollywood, CA) - Giving young people the opportunity collaborate and create through animation production that is distributed worldwide.

Teen Voices Online (Boston, MA) - Written by a multi-cultural collaborative group of young women around the world, the site focuses on a variety of issues relevant to youth.

Yollocalli Youth Museum (Chicago, IL) - Yollocalli provides youth between the ages of 14 and 19 the opportunity to explore their interests in art and uncover their hidden talents through a variety of artistic experiences.
 

Plugged In (East Palo Alto, CA) - Dedicated to bringing the tremendous technological resources available in Silicon Valley to low-income youth and families by providing access, training and support for computers and the Internet.

Educational Video Center (New York, NY) - A community-based media organization that teaches documentary video production and media analysis to youth, educators and community organizers. 

The New Orleans Video Access Center (New Orleans, LA) - Providing youth media training programs since 1972 for inner-city African American youth.

Blunt Youth Radio (Portland, ME) - Blunt members receive free training to teach them what they need to know to produce a creative radio program, and the Youth Radio Project produces a weekly call-in public affairs radio show for teens.

Global Action Project, Inc. (New York, NY) - An educational organization that develops youth leaders through video production and peer education, and promotes the inclusion of diverse youth voices on critical local and global issues.

AppalShop-The Appalachian Media Institute (Eastern Kentucky) - Young people work with ami to learn how to use video cameras and audio equipment to document the unique traditions and complex issues of their mountain communities.

Community Art Center’s Teen Media Program (Cambridge, MA) - A 30-year history of serving youth living in public housing developments by engaging them in exploring their identities and creative talents through processes of critical thinking, problem solving and self-expression.
 

KBOO Youth Collective (Portland, OR) - Covers a wide range of issues affecting American youth and run a youth show, Youth Randomonium, which is a showcase for Portland's incredible local youth talent.

Oakland Youth Media

Young Media Australia (Australia) - YMA exists to promote a quality media environment for Australian children and to raise community awareness of the needs of children and young people in relation to print, electronic and screen based media.

Youth Channel (Manhattan, NY) - An alternative to mass media created to provide equal access to all young people that is governed and programmed by youth who want to make a difference.
 

Just Think (San Francisco, CA) - Youth-produced informational media about topics ranging from hip-hop music to consumer rights.

Youth Media Databases/Collectives/Advocacy Organizations/Technical Assistance Providers

Listen Up! - Listen Up! is a youth media network that connects young video producers and their allies to resources, support, and projects with the goals of developing the field and achieving an authentic youth voice in the mass media.

Issue Lab on Youth Media - Lists over 70 downloadable reports, including the entire Series on Digital Media and Learning recently published by MIT and funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Youth Media Council (San Francisco) - A youth organizing, leadership development, media capacity-building and watchdog project dedicated to developing youth-led strategies for media justice.

YMDi (Youth Media Distribution) Provides information and tools that are essential to increasing the visibility of youth made media.

Children & Youth Producing Media This page is devoted to children and teens as media producers. Included are links to a diversity of sites where young people are producing print and multimedia products.

Young Peoples' Media Network

United Nations Youth Media Program

WireTap "youth in pursuit of the dirty truth" Wiretap is an independent information source for socially conscious youth. packed with articles and information about youth rights and activism affecting young people nationwide.

The National Youth Media Access Project NYMAP is an innovative partnership among public access centers from across the country committed to expanding services to young people. Initiated by the MNN Youth Channel,

Resources

Youth Media Publishers Names, links, and addresses to more than 200 publishers around the world that publish youth-written poetry, stories, research, and more.

Youth Media Resources A variety of free and fee tools for young people to create their own websites, newspapers, and other media.