Media in Motion: YOUNG VOICES IS BACK!!!! Issue Two

The newest issue of Young Voices hit the streets of Waterbury, October 3, 2007, just 6 weeks after the first issue. With a smaller youth staff, the crew cranked out 24 pages with a cover story on the Police Activity League. Thank you to Waterbury Youth Services, The Waterbury Observer, the YMCA and The Waterbury Arts Magnet School for continued support of the newspaper project.

Managing Editor Chelsea Murray's words below sum up everything appropriately. Here are some of the images from Issue 2.

For more information as always you can contact Quajay Donnell, publisher at believeinmedia@gmail.com or 203-500-3891.

THE PROMISE
By Chelsea Murray
Managing Editor, Young Voices

It was hard to wipe the smile off my face that hot day in August when the first issue of ‘Young Voices’ hit the streets. I knew the second our green Ford Explorer pulled into the printer that we had started something that had the potential to make a huge difference in the City of Waterbury. I have personally been in the belly of a budding newspaper since I was five years old. I have seen the inner workings of the Observer. I have written for the Observer, but never experienced the full feeling of accomplishment that I did on that day when I saw the first issue of ‘Young Voices’ sitting on the skid.

Even though we talked about producing a youth newspaper all summer it didn’t seem real until the second the twelve young journalists set their eyes on it for the first time. They all opened the paper and soaked up each page in disbelief. The reality of what we had talked about all summer had actually come to life. These young peoples lives are often rife with hollow promises and they seriously did not believe that we would get this done. And they definitely did not believe that it would be distributed all over the city for the populous to view. They didn’t quite grasp what kind of potentially huge impact this newspaper would make on the city.

Over the course of ten minutes their emotions changed from disbelief, embarrassment, excitement, and overall they were bubbling over with pride.

That day they went around handing the papers out to business people and patrons of downtown Waterbury with huge smiles plastered on their faces. They felt rejected and upset when some passers by refused to take the paper, but that only seemed to give them more juice to work harder to get the next person to show interest and pick it up.

These twelve young people that we had worked so closely with all summer had finally produced a unique and refreshing voice in the city of Waterbury. It was hard to imagine what the final result would turn out to be, but it surpassed all our expectations. All the hours of hard work in the sweltering, smelly office paid off when the powerful, jam packed issue came out. Each story in the paper meant business. They addressed huge problems that face the youth in Waterbury and these young journalists worked hard to professionally put the stories out there in a coherent manner for all to see. They weren’t just young people screaming and whining about the injustices and problems facing youth. They took a very mature and professional approach at addressing the issues.

This summer opened up a new door for the youth of Waterbury. They now have a respected media outlet in which to express their opinions and spread youth news to the city and to those in power positions. With the upcoming election it’s important for the candidates and voters to realize that there are many issues in Waterbury that pertain to youth that should be looked at closer.

The staff of “Young Voices” put together a great first issue to show Waterbury what they are made of and it continues to pack a punch with the second issue.

"Live to Learn, Learn to Live" Back to School Rally in August