Youth Are Redefining the Meaning of Journalism
Opioid addiction is a reality many communities confront today. As community members deal with the impacts of substance use disorder, mitigating trauma for our children must be a central part of the conversation.
On Sept. 6, at the St. Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), a community media center in St. Paul, Minnesota, the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation and Conversaciones de Salud hosted a youth community journalism town hall conversation on solutions for the opioid crisis.
The purpose of our "Youth Community Journalism — Episode 2: 5 Years of Opioids Awareness With Conversaciones de Salud" program was to raise awareness, share stories, and discuss the solutions to the opioid crisis.
In partnership with Conversaciones de Salud at Carmen Robles and Associates LLC, the Youth Community Journalism Institute at the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation led this important conversation with national experts, community leaders, and affected families. The conversation was in English and Spanish.
Youth community journalism team members included program co-hosts Jesús Rojas (a 15-year-old 10th grader) and Lyric Rogers (a 14-year-old ninth grader), camera operator Christian Flores (a 14-year-old ninth grader), producer Emilia Ortiz (a 12-year-old seventh grader), and director Cal Ortiz (a 9-year-old fourth grader).
The guest panel included:
Bridgette Norring, Devin J. Norring Foundation Alma Sanchez, community member
Alma Sanchez Quiroz, Community Member
Cynthia Munguia MPA, CPRS, executive director, Minnesota Recovery Connection
Eric Ortiz, executive director, Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation
Dr. Hector Colon-Rivera from the Opioid Response Network (ORN) provided a national overview and the medical response. Dr. Colon-Rivera explained how we can better integrate mental health services with addiction treatment to ensure a holistic approach to recovery, particularly for adolescents and young adults.
Bridgette Norring from the Devin J. Norring Foundation and Alma Sanchez, a community member, talked about the reality of the opioid epidemic. Both Norring and Sanchez lost 19-year-old sons due to fentanyl poisoning, Devin Norring in 2020 and Deenilson Pelayo in 2021. Devin went online to Snapchat to buy Percocet for pain from migraines and a cracked molar during the COVID shutdown canceling dental appointments. Instead, he got counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and died in his bedroom. Deenilson was in treatment to overcome addiction and was on his way home to San Bernardino, California, when he died at train station in Orange, California, from a counterfeit pill, laced with fentanyl.
The mothers shared their stories and how their personal histories have influenced their advocacy against opioid overdoses. They provided advice for other parents who are trying to protect their children from the dangers of opioids and fentanyl. They talked about how they envision the future of opioid prevention, legislation, and urgent actions that need to taken.
"Start the conversation now," said Norring. "Start it early. Have the conversations especially about fentanyl. These fake pills are so so easy to find here in my small town [Hastings, Minnesota]. Our drug task force has been pulling hundreds of thousands of them off the street so they're not going anywhere anytime soon. Have a conversation with your children about the dangers on social media. Snapchat. We had no idea that this is the number one place where these dealers hang out and sell to our children and they deliver it right to your front doorstep. Just starting the conversation. Getting educated. Learn the signs of an overdose. Have Narcan in your home and just really being vigilant. Know who your children are hanging out with. I mean you don't have to be on top of them 24/7 but know who the people that they're with. We trusted this person that Devon was with. Devon knew him for a very long time, so I mean even that there's uncertainty."
Cynthia Munguia, the executive director of Minnesota Recovery Connection , and?Lolita Ulloa, an attorney and the director of?Hennepin County’s Opioid Response Initiative, talked about what is being done to work toward solutions. Munguia shared her personal experience with long-term recovery and how her experience has informed her leadership in the field. Ulloa discussed the biggest challenges Hennepin County faces in the opioid crisis and how they are addressing. She talked about strategies that have been most effective in reducing disparities in opioid treatment and prevention services and the importance of collaboration with the community and governmental organizations in combatting this epidemic.?
The conversation and show production was led by our youth community journalism team.?
It was a powerful show.
"Our voices are just as important out there, and sharing our stories and hope that parents would have conversations," said Norring. "We unfortunately live the the ugly side of this point where we lost our children, but there's hope and recovery so we want to make sure that we're helping people get to that road. I would love a day where we don't have to have these conversations, but I'm honored to be here, and I thank you guys because I think you, the youth, the teens, the young adults, you guys are going to be a really big driving force in this. I can go into these schools, and I can talk to kids all day all day long, but when it comes from you guys, you guys tune in a little bit better. It's different. It hits different when it comes from you guys so I appreciate what you're doing, and I'm glad that you're doing it, and I'm so thankful that Carmen and all of you are putting the work in to get the message out there into your community."
The Power of Youth Community Journalism
This event is part of our community engagement work at the Strong Mind Strong Body Foundation’s Youth Community Journalism Institute to create community solutions through community journalism and build a healthy media ecosystem that works for everyone.
The conversation on the opioid crisis was led by our youth community journalism team. With our Youth Community Journalism Institute, we empower young people by giving them the tools and platforms to report on critical issues like the opioid crisis. Through research, reporting, storytelling, advocacy, and investigation, they can raise awareness, humanize the issue, and propose community-based solutions. They can mobilize community support, hold power accountable, and create solutions.
We will continue to empower young people with journalism training, tools, and guidance. Youth-led media can play a crucial role in educating their peers and broader communities about opioid misuse and other local issues. They offer fresh perspectives, highlight overlooked aspects of the crisis, and mobilize youth and the community to take action.
We want to use youth community journalism to help solutions for this opioid crisis. As the The Minnesota Star Tribune reported in April 2024:
"In Minnesota and nationwide, the fentanyl epidemic has exploded in recent years into the most deadly drug epidemic in American history. In 2021, nationwide drug overdose deaths surpassed 100,000 for the first time, then climbed to nearly 110,000 in 2022, according to the CDC. The vast majority of those deaths were from synthetic opioids, mostly fentanyl. In the 2010s, around 300 to 400 Minnesotans died annually in opioid overdoses. That number has skyrocketed, with more than 1,000 Minnesotans dying from opioid overdoses in 2022, according to numbers from the Minnesota Department of Health. Roughly the same number of Minnesotans died from opioid overdoses between 2020 and 2022 as had died from opioid overdoses in the past eight years combined. Earlier this year saw what law enforcement called the biggest fentanyl bust in Minnesota history, where 280,000 pills were smuggled here inside stuffed animals."
Youth-led media can play a transformative role in creating solutions to the opioid epidemic and other local and societal issues. By offering a platform for young voices to highlight concerns and perspectives often overlooked by mainstream media, we can empower youth to engage directly with their communities, raise awareness of challenges like the opioid crisis, and propose actionable solutions.?
They can produce content that reflects the realities of their peers and neighborhoods. Youth media can foster community dialogue, challenge stereotypes, and promote positive change.?
Empathy is more important than ever. Young journalists can learn how to handle sensitive subjects like addiction by being mindful of stigma, using proper language, and including personal stories in a respectful way. Youth also have the ability to show others how to be empathetic and gain the ability to understand and share the feelings of another person.?
Youth can help create a culture of caring and compassion. Through empathy, youth can enable deeper connections, foster kindness, and help create supportive environments where people feel heard and understood. This is a crucial element in building meaningful relationships, resolving conflicts, and encouraging mutual respect. Through empathy, we can better appreciate diverse perspectives and work toward more inclusive and just communities.
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This is only the beginning.
Transforming Pain Into Power
Local journalism is evolving. Youth can be leaders in this evolution. As Poynter reported, new business strategies that focus on relevant content and service are growing audiences. Youth can do that and help create solutions.
Working with youth and any group learning new skills requires patience. Our second youth community journalism show was not perfect. It had a lot of moving parts for production. With a combination of Zoom and in-person guests, we had some technical challenges and a few other blips in the road. But at the end of the day, it was a phenomenal show, and people want more programming like this.
Our "Youth Community Journalism — Episode 2: 5 Years of Opioids Awareness With Conversaciones de Salud" program was the result of Carmen Robles' leadership and efforts for the last five years. The fifth anniversary of the awareness campaign she started with support from community leaders was produced, directed, and hosted by youth ages 9-15. Many voices have been lost to fentanyl, but the legacies of youths lost in this crisis are alive and well.?We look forward to helping create more solutions.
These were some of the comments made by participants, audience members, and supporters of our town hall conversation.
"This is all good. Proud of everything you are doing. The youth initiative is great."
"Such a powerful and needed discussion. It was so inspiring to see the whole production led by the youth. Thanks for everything you do!"?
"Wow, it was so so lovely to finally meet you! Thank you very much for inviting me into that space, and hosting a platform for the youth. It was truly an inspirational night, and I look forward to hearing more about what is in the works. Congratulations on having such success!"
"Awesome."
"It was an absolute pleasure to work with you and be part of this experience. I would love to continue these conversations. We have been created for such a time as this!! Let’s keep going!!!"
I have youth who can come out and train your youth journalism group on how to respond to an overdose. Let me know your thoughts on them being in community together.?
"Thank you for caring with my son's legacy!!! He'll guide you and shine his light on you."?
"They are a smashing group of young adults.? Proud of them for overcoming the stigma they face amongst their peers when it comes to lending their voice to this crisis. Blessed and honored you invited me to you again. Much love, many hugs and an abundance of thanks!"
"Where can I make a donation? It needs to go to a nonprofit organization."?
Youth can be a force for change and good in journalism. We know what we need to do to get better. Based on feedback from show participants and guests about the experience, we have some great ideas on how we can make our youth community journalism programs better.
Perhaps solicit Q&A from audience. Consider identifying/highlighting more youth involved solutions focus.?
Questions from the audience.
Invite more youth as audiences.
Perhaps including Spanish<>English interpretation for individuals that did not speak the language.
More Indigenous land acknowledgements.
I would love to hear more of the youths commentary.
Create an after school youth-to-youth peer mentor program, based on the youth apprenticeship model of combining academics with community service projects, within each school. Have a year-end conference where all come together to discuss solutions and celebrate achievements. Ie: in the Latino community — Cinco de Mayo Parade, Hispanic Heritage Month and Dia de Los Muertos activities.
Just spread the programs name around social media.
Journalism of the future will look different than journalism of the past. Journalism can no longer just report news and tell stories. Journalism needs to serve the community with actionable information that can help make people's lives better. Youth already are doing this across the country and can help redefine the meaning of journalism. Youth can turn talk into action. Youth can create more solutions to the opioid crisis and all of the issues of our time.
But we need more youth journalism and media programs. Every school in the United States and every student from K-12 should have access to age-appropriate journalism opportunities, media literacy programs, and civic engagement. Journalism for all can create justice for all.
Communities can support youth journalists by providing them with access to resources, interviews, and platforms for their stories. Steve Brunsberg ( Brunsberg, Steve ), SPNN's director of productions, gave his time and expertise, training our youth community journalism team and overseeing preproduction and the production from SPNN's control room. With the support of Bonnie Schumacher , SPNN's executive director, youth got access to SPNN's studio and equipment. We plan to collaborate more with SPNN and their community media and youth programs.
Collaboration with local organizations can amplify the efforts of youth media and give their stories more visibility. For example, the community can support youth journalists by offering mentorship, platforms for publishing their work, and access to resources like training on reporting sensitive topics.?
Partnering with local organizations can provide youth journalists with deeper insights into issues like the opioid crisis and gun violence. Additionally, attending their events, sharing their stories, and engaging in community dialogue based on their reporting can amplify their efforts. Financial or in-kind support, such as equipment and stipends, can also ensure they continue to bring attention to critical issues.
Future projects might include in-depth investigations into community health issues, partnerships with local organizations for advocacy journalism, multimedia storytelling initiatives, and expanding the program's reach to empower more youth in different regions.
The world is filled with problems. Youth can be part of the solutions. Global solutions can start at the grassroots community level with journalism as a force for change and good. At the Youth Community Journalism Institute, we envision initiatives that empower young journalists to address critical issues affecting their communities, including:
A well-functioning society needs good journalism. And we need more good journalism today.
The best journalism serves the community. Youth can help address relevant societal concerns, and youth community journalism can amplify their voices, the voices of the community, and take actions that make an impact.
Youth can provide underserved community members with access to neighborhood, regional, and state news and information. This kind of hyperlocal accountability journalism can fill local news gaps and help residents be more engaged in their communities and hold officials accountable.
The world needs more solutions. Global change starts at the local level. Youth can be solutions-makers and help create solutions for the community with community journalism. By creating solutions, we can turn bad news into good news and transform pain into power.
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