New York – Three youth who have participated in The Children’s Aid Society’s Next Generation Center in the Bronx have won a prestigious national journalism award, the 42nd Annual RFK Journalism Award, for “This is the South Bronx,” three radio stories that were originally broadcast on New York public radio. Their prize is in the Domestic Radio category.
The RFK Journalism Awards honor outstanding reporting on the issues that defined the life and work of Robert F. Kennedy: human rights, social justice, and the power of individual action in the United States and around the world. The awards go to extraordinary examples of journalism that examine the causes, conditions, and remedies of injustice.
Miguelina “Erikka” Diaz, Amon “AJ” Frazier, and Keith Tingman each created an essay for Radio Rookies®, a youth radio project of WNYC (New York Public Radio®) that since 1999 has provided teenagers with the tools and training to create radio stories about themselves, their communities and their world. Both Tingman and Frazier are freshmen in high school and Diaz just finished her first year at Mercy College in the Bronx. Click below to hear their stories:
According to WNYC, “Radio Rookies staff producers worked closely with 18-year-old Diaz, and 8th graders Frazier and Tingman, teaching them the skills to conduct interviews, use digital recording equipment, research, and report in-depth stories. Their series This is the South Bronx gives audiences a chance to get to know these three young people through their lively and intimate radio documentaries on a failing educational system, high incarceration rates, and the stress of living in poverty. The series reflects the personal stories contained within the grim statistics on life for teenagers in the South Bronx.”
Ethel Kennedy will present the RFK Award to the three teens at a special ceremony in Washington, DC on May 26 at George Washington University. Winners receive a cash prize and a bust of Robert Kennedy by sculptor Robert Berks.
The Sigma Delta Chi Awards of the Society of Professional Journalists recognize the best in professional journalism in categories covering print, radio, television, newsletters, art/graphics, online and research. Erikka Miguelina Diaz, Amon Frazier and Keith Tingman’s “This is the South Bronx” won its Public Service in Radio Journalism Award. Those awards will be presented in October.
“We are incredibly proud of these three young people and in awe of their talents. I was personally blown away by the power of their reporting,” said Children’s Aid Society President and CEO Richard Buery. “Theirs are stories that will destroy any listener’s stereotypes.”
About The Children’s Aid Society
The Children’s Aid Society is an independent, not-for-profit organization established to serve the children of New York City. Our mission is to provide comprehensive support for children in need, from birth to young adulthood, and for their families, to fill the gaps between what children have and what they need to thrive. Founded in 1853, Children’s Aid is one of the nation’s largest and most innovative non-sectarian agencies, serving New York’s neediest children. Services are provided in community schools, neighborhood centers, health clinics and camps. For additional information, please call 212-949-4938, email ellenl@childrensaidsociety.org, or visit www.childrensaidsociety.org.
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