“What you see on the news is always someone’s perspective,” Frank Latin reminds the young people he works with. “Most reporters, they come here, they do a story, they’re gone. But who better to report on the neighborhood than people actually from the neighborhood?”

Latin serves as Executive Director, youth mentor, grantwriter, and writing/digital media instructor at the organization he founded, the Westside Writing Project (WWP). WWP was born out of the community newspaper, Nitty Gritty News, which Latin wrote to spotlight positive stories about Humboldt Park and Garfield Park, the area Latin calls home. Nitty Gritty News featured a youth column, and eventually a full youth page, where young people could write their own stories. That page inspired his vision for WWP, which he brought first to Chicago Commons and later to area schools to engage local youth in sharing the stories of their communities.

He shared this history at the WWP 2012 Annual Media Showcase, held at the Richard M. Daley Library, which featured videos created by a group of budding youth journalists, all residents of Humboldt Park and Garfield Park. These videos were created during after-school and weekend workshops held by Latin at various sites throughout the neighborhood and beyond.

How does a youth reporter get started? Participant Gwen Pepin explained, “It’s imperative to have something on paper.”

The concept is simple:  Let students generate topics that interest them. Teach them how to responsibly research those topics and write about them with intelligence and heart. Offer technology skills that empower them to convert their written words to a video story that they film, edit, and present to larger audiences. In the process, provide them marketable skills, access to equipment, role models, a peer network, and most importantly, a voice.

The results, however, are anything but simple. The videos showcased covered topics ranging from food deserts to the Harold Washington Library to school turnaround. The piece that prompted the most dialogue was arguably Marcus Johnson’s report on neighborhood violence. It begins with factual details, delves into personal experience, and ends with a plea for equity in police resource allocation. This goes to the heart of one of the central concerns of youth in Humboldt Park and Garfield Park, who tragically face violence on a routine basis.

But WWP lets youth take the lens and own the message. “A lot of students haven’t seen themselves in this role before,” explained Mr. Ritchey, a resource manager at Piccolo School, one of WWP’s partner sites. He applauded WWP as a unique outlet for students to feel heard and affirmed.

Learn more about the Westside Writing Project and watch the full array of youth videos here.