This summer, I have been working full-time with two part time internships through the Center for Civic Media. One internship has been with Vozmob, the mobile blogging site for day laborers, which I blogged about not too long ago. The other half of my time is spent working with a Boston organization called Press Pass TV (PPTV). Headquartered at Copley Square near the Boston Public Library, Press Pass TV is an organization that empowers youth through journalism and community media creation. In their own words: “Press Pass TV is a nonprofit organization that engages youth in advocacy journalism to tell the stories of communities working for change. We believe that storytelling empowers people to find solutions to community issues and envision a better world.” Press Pass TV has two “equally important overlapping goals” which are: 1) To use video journalism as a tool for youth development, professional readiness, and college preparation 2) To produce news stories that promote positive community identity and action. For more information, you can visit their website at: presspasstv.org.
My internship with Press Pass TV has largely involved an upcoming media justice campaign called Respect in Reporting (RIP). The Respect in Reporting Campaign seeks to address the misreporting of incidents of violence among underrepresented youth, among other things. I was first introduced to the Respect of Reporting Campaign in the Civic Media Co-Design Studio at MIT. Instructed by CMS professor Sasha Costanza-Chock, the Civic Media Co-Design Studio meant to partner students with community partners in order to collaboratively design media related projects. As part of a team of graduate students from MIT, Harvard, and UMASS Amherst, we were able to collaborate with Press Pass TV to design certain aspects of the Respect in Reporting Campaign, including a website. Much of the time during my summer internship with Press Pass TV has involved the RIP website, which is expected to launch along with the campaign this fall. The website is not yet accessible by the public, but I have included a screenshot below. For more information on the Civic Media Co-Design Studio work with Press Pass TV, follow the link here.
My other duties with Press Pass TV include regular involvement with the organization’s summer programs. Press Pass TV offers a variety of different programs, including Site Based Programs, Community Connected Programs, and Lab Programs (more information here). This summer, I have had the privilege of engaging with a talented group of high school youth from Boston neighborhoods. Over the course of the summer, these youth have learned to deconstruct common trends of the media industry, such as media bias and fact checking. The students have also been able to learn journalism skills, interviewing techniques, and they have participated in workshops conducted by media professionals, media scholars, and media creators in the Greater Boston Area. A large portion of the program, however, has focused on training the students in video journalism. They have gained experience with different filming techniques, such as the “rule of thirds” and “b-roll,” planned pre-production, and post-production using Final Cut Pro to edit footage. Working in groups, the students have been creating video projects about youth violence, drug use among youth, and youth resilience, which are in their final stages of completion. Unlike countless examples of televised news reports, which tend to sensationalize news and instill fear, these video projects dig deeper into the causes of issues and provide solution oriented reporting. I have included images from the summer program and also links to videos created by youth currently working with Press Pass TV.
I had some trouble embedding the videos, so follow the links below to see some of the work produced by PPTV Youth this summer!
Video 1: PPTV to the Rescue