The Urban Youth International Journalism Program broadens the intellectual, educational and career horizons of youths who live in public housing and other low-income neighborhoods by training them to communicate their perspectives and priorities in print news and feature articles

Young people from these communities often suffer from an environment, which limits their opportunities, affects their academic performance and hinders their self confidence.

Founded in 1998 by the staff of Residents' Journal, the Urban Youth International Journalism Program realized the dreams of Residents' Journal's adult staff to incubate a new generation of resident journalists.

The first class of the Urban Youth International Journalism Program attended twice-weekly journalism classes taught by professional journalists. The youths developed literary skills and enhanced their ability to analyze media reports and social conditions. The youths studied the function of media as a source of objective information in a free, democratic society.

The Urban Youth International Journalism Program conducted several trips to underscore the youths' training curriculum. In 1998 and 1999, youth participants and their instructors traveled to Washington, D.C., where they met and interviewed high-level government officials, including U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, Presidential spokesperson Mike McCurry, and other dignitaries. In summer 1998, 16 youths traveled to Ghana and Israel on a fact-finding journey in which they met and interviewed journalists, community leaders and government officials.

After each journey, the youths wrote articles about their experiences to the readerships of Residents' Journal and the Chicago Defender. The articles provided critical information on the function of government and the role of the media both in the United States and abroad.

Though the high cost and associated risks of travel prevent additional trips, the Urban Youth International Journalism Program hired new staff and upgraded its curriculum in mid-2000.

Young people who join the program are guided through completion of Journalism 101 course, after which they can begin to write articles and gain real world work experience as freelance writers for the youth section of Residents' Journal. Advanced students learn about the function of media in democracy and gain broadcasting techniques in the Journalism 201 section.

The Urban Youth International Journalism Program offers young people a unique path to improve their skills and abilities even as they shatter stereotypes and negative perceptions of themselves. The Urban Youth International Journalism Program is encouraging young African Americans and Latinos to become journalists at a time of retrenchment and decline in terms of diversity in the American media. The American Society of Newspaper Editors noted in a recent report that the number of African American journalists in newsrooms dropped from 5.31 percent in 2000 to 5.23 percent in 2001.

The Urban Youth International Journalism Program has provided training to more than 125 young adults from public housing communities and low-income neighborhoods across the city. Following a curriculum rich in communications skills and the principles of the Constitution's First Amendment, Urban Youth International Journalism Program participants leave the program with the skills and contacts necessary to continue their education at a college level. Former participants currently are enrolled in college journalism programs and other courses of study as well as professional pursuits which have benefited from their training and experiences. Urban Youth International Journalism Program graduates will certainly will help the American media reflect society's diversity.