The Progressive

What can students do to make other students think more about world events? It's challenging, because there can be a lot of other things going on in a kid's mind such as school and friends and family. Still, youth need to be paying attention to the world around them--discussing, thinking, dissecting--and forming their own opinions about the world. And that's exactly why this piece, The Progressive, is so compelling--because it tackles those very issues.

Set around an anonymous student newspaper (The Progressive) that leans toward the left, this piece centers around whether youth are reading it, what they think, and why the person behind it chose to publish The Progressive.

The vox in this piece is really great--we get to hear Nate Baker, the man behind the paper, talk about why he published it, and we also get to hear students voice their opinions about it. There is also some music which makes a nice background and comes up to make neat breaks between bits of vox.

However, while it's good to hear the student's opinions, a lot of the vox sounds alike. Though a lot of them are really cool and interesting, some of them are along the lines of "I don't read it." That perspective should be a part of the piece, but perhaps a more selective use of vox along with some explanatory bridging by the narrator could sharpen the piece and shorten it, too. Maybe posing more specific questions could get better, more in-depth answers.

Also, I found the occasional echo technique a bit confusing and unnecessary. This could be replaced by few moments of music which gives the listener time to think about what was said.

That said, this is interesting content with some good points about youth making media and how kids can get drawn into thinking about larger issues. Thanks to Lena Eckert-Erdheim for giving us a look into her school!