Youth News

During the summer of 2012 students in KFAI’s Youth News Initiative program produced radio pieces about stories important to them. The topics ranged from stop and frisk policies in Minneapolis to a male perspective on abortion. Students produced their pieces with the help of YNI supervisors Dale Connelly and Emily Krumberger and their individual mentors.

During the 2011-2012 school year, four high school students from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School worked as interns at KFAI. During their time here, each produced a radio story.

Also during the 2011-2012 KFAI held an after-school youth media program at Cristo Rey, called The REELness. The teens involved produced radio pieces and a video.

Listen to youth radio pieces addressing fatherhood, bullying, beauty standards, identity & the LGBT community, the foster care system and racism.

Youth News Initiative 2011 Broadcast Schedule

SEPTEMBER 30
Annika Williamson – Skin Tone and Media
Annika looks at popular images and assumptions about skin color and beauty.

It is not uncommon for women from all cultures to fret about their hair. KFAI Intern Stephanie Perry takes a special look into why so many African-American women in her neighborhood choose not to wear their natural hair.

Stephanie Perry is a senior at the FAIR school in downtown Minneapolis. This is Stephanie’s second year participating in the Youth News Initiative.

The Department of Justice is working to ensure that Gulf Coast residents and business are compensated for this summer’s oil spill, but what about about the victims in Minnesota? KFAI Youth News Intern Mesgana Tesfahun sheds light on how the BP oil spill affects her community. Mesgana is a senior at South High School in Minneapolis.

Guadalupe Sayers, a sophomore at South High School in Minneapolis, explores why students drop out of high school, and hears about efforts to keep students in school and re-enroll dropouts.

KFAI’s Youth News Intern Lech Lor examines the paradoxes within her daily life regarding body image and healthy eating. She delves into the causes and cultural consequences of the obesity epidemic and how it is affected by the American ideal of the perfect body. Lech Lor is a senior at Roosevelt High School in Minneapolis.

After experiencing the violent death of a close friend this summer, Patrick Henry High School Senior Halah Ali investigated the causes and consequences of teen violence in her community.

Annika Williamson is a sophomore at Champlin Park High School. This is her third year participating in the KFAI Youth News Initiative. Her previous stories were about beauty in the media and teen pregnancy. Annika brings us a story about her friend’s struggle with anorexia nervosa and advice on how to approach someone you think is suffering from an eating disorder.