1:55pm | A nationwide ethnic media group is preparing to launch a new youth journalism training program targeting youth in West and Central Long Beach.
New America Media, an association of more than 2,000 ethnic news organizations across the nation, is bringing VoiceWaves to Long Beach thanks to financial support from The California Endowment. Applications for the youth journalism training program are currently being accepted from youth interested in participating in the project.
All youth journalists will learn to report, write and create digital media content in order to raise awareness about and spark community action regarding neighborhood health issues in their Central and West Long Beach neighborhoods. Participants will be trained to use photography, video, radio and the Internet as community engagement tools to produce a better Long Beach, according to theVoiceWaves Facebook page.
Artist and cultural activist Pomsudon Ok, a Long Beach native, will serve as the Long Beach VoiceWaves youth media coordinator
“We want youth to help us amplify the voices of their family, friends and neighbors,” Ok said in a statement. “Together, we can give voice to those who need it most and bring positive change to our world one voice, one story, one community at a time.”
Ok teaches filmmaking to inner-city youth in Long Beach with the YMCA of Greater Long Beach Youth Institute, is a videographer for the Cambodian Community History and Archiving Project and teaches classical Cambodian dance at the Khmer Arts Academy, where he also serves as curator and media designer.
Eligible youth must be 14 to 24 years old and live in Central or West Long Beach. They also must be interested in learning how to use various journalism media (video, print, photography and radio) and speaking with community members and policymakers about local issues.
Additionally, youth who speak Spanish or Khmer are especially encouraged to apply, according to information provided by Antonio Ruiz, who operates The Creativity Network and is assisting in launching the VoiceWaves project here in the International City.
A stipend will be provided to all youth who are accepted into the project, and participants will also gain invaluable skills that will assist them throughout their lives, Ruiz said.
Already, there has been much interest in the program within the community, Ruiz said.
He recently sat down with the chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications at Cal State Long Beach, Professor Raul Reis, and Ruiz said Reis expressed interest in partnering with with the VoiceWaves project, meaning participating youth journalists will likely be mentored by and work alongside college-level journalism students.
The application deadline has been extended through next Friday, April 15. Applications can be downloaded on The Creativity Network website by clicking here. They can be submitted via FAX to 562-435-8318, e-mailed to [email protected] or mailed or hand-delivered to the following address:
Promsudon Ok
Attn: Ana Bonilla
The California Conference for Equality and Justice
444 W. Ocean Blvd., Ste. 940
Long Beach, CA 90802