Signal, July: New YouthCast Host, Producers Tips & More

Molly Adams

Meet Molly Adams, new YouthCast host/blogger extraordinaire. A native of Portland, Maine, Molly is living proof that youth radio groups work: After graduating from Blunt Youth Radio, she went on to Colorado College, reporting for the local news, DJing late night music, and managing the student-programmed channel at KRCC. These days, Molly lives in Chicago where she volunteers at Vocalo.org and works in a restaurant to pay the bills. And now that she has a college degree, she's the host of YouthCast!

Follow YouthCast on Twitter, check out Molly's favorites on PRX, or say hello through YouthCast. And a fond farewell to former host Chantel Harley, who's bound for grad school greatness.

Now that you've uploaded your audio to PRX and put a picture on your profile, what's next? From getting stations to notice you to sharing audio on Facebook, Sync, the new monthly PRX producer newsletter, has got your back. It's chock full of tips for making PRX more useful to producers, plus opportunities, collaborations and resources. Check out the first issue online, and sign up to receive the next issue in your email.

Denise Tejada, Youth Radio

Denise Tejada knows youth media. Since joining Oakland-based Youth Radio in 2003 at age 15, she has moved from student to peer teacher to news department production assistant. She's watched radio grow to include photo, video and online distribution. And several of her videos have provided one of the few available youth perspectives on major national news stories. An excerpt of our interview follows, but head over to GPRX for the full version - it's too good to miss!

GPRX: How did you find your way to Youth Radio?
Denise Tejada: I migrated to the US from El Salvador with my mom at the age of seven. My older brother, Wilmer, introduced me to Youth Radio. I've been hooked ever since. I fell in love with radio because I wouldn't be judged by the way I looked, but by what I had to say.

GPRX: "Radio" seems to be turning into "media;" how has your approach to stories changed?
DT: In the new digital landscape, Youth Radio's newsroom is transitioning into Youth Media International, where every story aims for "The virality of YouTube, the community participation of Wikipedia, and the credibility of the New York Times." When I'm working on a story, I'm thinking about all formats - radio, video and print, and many forms of distribution - broadcast, websites, and social media.

To learn about Denise's future plans and see the breaking news video that went viral, see the full interview on GPRX.

Radio producers face two perennial questions: 1) What's the right music for this piece? and 2) Am I allowed to use it? A collaborative project of WFMU, Freemusicarchive.org helps you resolve at least one of those questions. With an easy search and thousands of songs to sample, the site is a treasure trove of legal music downloads - all covered under Creative Commons or similar licenses. What's more, Free Music Archive audio is hand-picked by audio curators, so, as the site says, "It's not just free music; it's good music." Now you just have to find the right song...

• Our friends at KUNM Youth Radio were recently honored with a 2009 Governor's Award for Youth Service. Big ups!
• Just one day left until the curtain closes on this year's Third Coast International Audio Festival Competition. And this year, for the first time ever, pieces are being submitted via PRX.org - no running to the post office last-minute! Read all about it.
• PRX is on satellite radio...are you? Tune in to XM 136 for Remix Radio - audio curated from the PRX catalogue.
• 
  

Photo: Stijn Vogels

Try some of these upcoming events for inspiration and as a tool to pitch to stations.

July 14 - Bastille Day
Aug. 2 - Friendship Day
Sept. - Back to School
Sept. 7 - Labor Day
Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 - Hispanic Heritage Month