"My First Recession" helps teens tell the stories of their first recession

Aug 10, 2009

Minnesota Public Radio today announced the launch of a multi-media project that gives teens a creative outlet for discussing the toll of the recession in their lives.

"My First Recession" is a collaboration involving American Public Media's Public Insight Journalism, which cultivates diverse voices that deepen and enrich news coverage; Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America; and Neighborhood House, a multi-cultural center in St. Paul, Minn. The project was made possible through a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

"My First Recession" engages artists in the storytelling process and uses the teen's stories as a catalyst for deeper, multi-generational conversation about surviving economic strife.

Specifically, Neighborhood House provided four teens--two boys and two girls--with digital video cameras to document the effects of the recession on themselves and the people around them. A multi-media artist worked with the kids to edit the video, and then, with the help of a spoken word artist, transformed their insights into rap songs. A professional photographer, web developer, public insight analyst and editor from American Public Media also worked to document the teens' stories. The Public Insight team then solicited and edited written memories from sources in MPR's Public Insight Network about their first recessions.

Neighborhood House Artistic Director Sandy Agustin sees the project as a way to get the kids to make some sense of their experience.

Even though the teens are dealing with the realities of the recession, they are reluctant to dwell on their situations. Agustin says, "They're living it everyday and they're aspiring to live something different in the future."

All of the stories, along with bios of participants, are highlighted on an interactive Web page at http://minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2009/07/25_first_recession/ (The video is also on YouTube). The stories will be a fixture on MPR's Public Insight Network page, and highlighted on MPR NewsQ.org and MPR's arts page.

"My First Recession" screenshot and photo available upon request

About Public Insight Journalism Public Insight Journalism uses the radio, the Web, and face-to-face meetings to invite people into its growing Public Insight Network of citizen sources. More than 70,000 people have signed up to share their insight and enrich American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio reporting. Public Insight Journalism uses software to track their expertise and experience and request their help on stories. Then specialized reporters known as Public Insight Analysts distill and fact-check the sources and their knowledge for use in reporting. Public Insight Journalism doesn't just use them as sources, but as partners in journalism, by inviting people to help set the agenda of what stories will be covered. Additional information about Public Insight Journalism is available at http://americanpublicmedia.publicradio.org/cij/.