Radio Rookies

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Radio Rookies® is a New York Public Radio® initiative that provides teenagers with the tools and training to create radio stories about themselves, their communities and their world. Since 1999, Radio Rookies has been conducting workshops across New York, in predominantly under-resourced neighborhoods, training young people to use words and sounds to tell true stories. Upon completion, the Rookies' documentaries air on WNYC - usually during Morning Edition (5am to 9am weekdays on WNYC 93.9 FM, 6am to 10am on WNYC AM 820 and online at wnyc.org) Some documentaries also air nationally, often on NPR's All Things Considered. Radio Rookies typically runs one or two workshops a year, each lasting anywhere from four to eight months. During the workshops, Rookie Reporters learn everything about radio journalism: from how to conduct an interview and develop a story to how to craft a script and digitally edit their audio. There is no fee, and the program provides all the equipment and instruction needed.

Series

Caption: Staten Island 2011
6 Pieces

This Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award winning series includes reports told by Staten Island Radio Rookies on everything from surviving Facebook drama to life in the foster care system to coming out as gay in the age of Lady Gaga.

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8 Pieces

The 2010 Radio Rookies Queens broadcast workshop was in partnership with the Flushing YMCA. The Queens Rookies reported stories about everything from gangs in schools, to what it’s like to have your dad deployed in Afghanistan, to online girl gamers.

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5 Pieces

The 2012 Radio Rookies Manhattan broadcast workshop was held in partnership with the McBurney YMCA on 14th Street in Manhattan. The Rookies' stories explore topics ranging from the immigration experience, to living with sickle cell disease, to the sexual harassment of teen girls on social media sites.


Pieces

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Radio Rookies Temitayo Fagbenle and Gemma Weiner spent the past several months talking to dozens of teenagers who smoke weed about where they buy i...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio and WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass.


  • Added: Dec 19, 2013
  • Length: 08:17
  • Purchases: 2
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These days, many teenagers live half their lives on social media sites, and they're writing the rules as they go. One online trend 16-year-old Radi...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio


  • Added: Jan 16, 2013
  • Length: 08:24
  • Purchases: 1
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Rebelling against your parents is the norm for most teens in America, but for some young people who immigrate to the U.S. without one or both of th...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Jan 16, 2013
  • Length: 06:35
  • Purchases: 1
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New York State has the worst high school graduation rate in the country, according to a recent study by the Schott Foundation for Public Education....

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio


  • Added: Jan 16, 2013
  • Length: 06:18
  • Purchases: 1
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18-year-old Radio Rookie Reporter, Danielle came from the Congo when she was 13 years old, leaving her mother and the life that she knew behind in ...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio, WCAI / WNAN Cape & Islands, Mass., and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 16, 2013
  • Length: 07:27
  • Purchases: 3
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Nearly 100,000 Americans suffer from a blood disorder called Sickle Cell Anemia, a painful disease that shortens life-expectancy. Sickle cells aren...

Bought by KBCS 91.3 FM Community Radio and PRX Remix


  • Added: Jan 16, 2013
  • Length: 07:11
  • Purchases: 2
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About two thirds of New Yorkers are from immigrant families. And when parents - who came here from other countries - raise American children, they ...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio, The Story, Vocalo.org, KUOW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 24, 2012
  • Length: 08:02
  • Purchases: 5
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Radio Rookie Alexis Gordon's dad has been in the Army Reserves since before she was born. He served a tour in Iraq when she was in the 5th grade an...

Bought by New Hampshire Public Radio, KUOW, and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 24, 2012
  • Length: 07:51
  • Purchases: 3
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Just when you think the vampire craze might have run its course, a new book hits the stores or another TV show launches. Next week the latest Twili...

Bought by KUOW and PRX Remix


  • Added: May 24, 2012
  • Length: 07:27
  • Purchases: 2
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Civil rights groups are pushing the NYPD to change its stop and frisk policy and 17-year-old Radio Rookie Edwin Llanos thinks a change might help p...

Bought by KUOW, PRX Remix, and The Story


  • Added: May 24, 2012
  • Length: 07:04
  • Purchases: 3