True Star Founders, Na-Tae' Thompson and DeAnna McLeary

Story, photos, and video by Cicely Teal, Essence McDowell
and Stephanie Williams

In recent years, Chicago streets have been a battleground for Chicago Public School students. Many have lost their lives to youth violence.

One of the efforts to alleviate the problem is the True Star Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides a creative outlet in the form of literary and professional development programs for youth.

“We want True Star to be the voice of young people,” said True Star executive director and co-founder, DeAnna McLeary. “Our goal is to educate and empower urban youth.”

McLeary and NaTae’ Thompson began True Star in the Fall of 2004 with 17 students in a journalism program. It has since grown to 14 programs and more than 300 students getting hands-on experience in major areas of mass media that includes journalism, marketing and publishing.

The True Star Magazine, the main component of the foundation, is created and produced by the teens within the after-school program.  The magazine is a free quarterly publication geared to an urban teen market.

The magazine’s mission is to inform, educate, entertain and serve by addressing everyday issues through life experiences and critical thinking. The magazine creates a relatable voice for young people, so the editorial team focuses on and openly discusses topics and issues that are affecting teenagers.

“We want to show them greater opportunities in life by allowing them to speak freely about things that affect them and be able to effectively analyze and disseminate positive messages,” Thompson said.

The True Star foundation partners with After School Matters, Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and the Young Men’s Christian Association YMCA. After School Matters is recognized as one of the strongest after-school initiatives nationwide and is acknowledged as the largest program of its kind, serving teenagers across the United States.

True Star is also supported by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, Chicago Department of Public Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, Department of Children & Youth Services (CYS) and Chicago Girls Coalition.

In 2010, True Star was recognized by the city of Chicago and awarded a $35,000 Community Development Block Grant. This grant allows True Star to supply their students with bus cards, digital equipment and supplies. True Star teens are kept in the loop about today’s digital divide and are taught to use digital media for the dissemination of news. The web blogging team creates the True Star blog, Truestraris.com.

The most successful aspect of the True Star foundation is its Summer programs. The largest student enrollment occurs in late June, when it increases to more than 250 students. A True Star research program found that during the summertime months, Chicago Public school students are more likely to be in danger of being affected by criminal activities and other high-risk behaviors.

“I live in an area where it’s very easy to fall through the cracks and become just another statistic,” said Melody Howard, a senior at Big Picture High School in Chicago. “True Star has been my safe haven where drugs, guns, pregnancies, gossip and violence doesn’t have to be a worry of mine unless I’m writing about it.”

True Star’s circulation numbers have been doubled since its first distribution of 15,000. The magazine is distributed in places with a heavy teen presence, including 39 Chicagoland McDonald’s, Boys and Girls Clubs and 35 youth centers. The publication’s motto is “we are, where teens are.”

The founders are looking to expand True Star into two additional markets and increase frequency to six issues per year and 65 pages from the current 52 pages. Beginning in the 2010-11 academic school year, True Star magazine will establish “True Star Jr.,” a newsletter produced by elementary school students at Woodson Elementary, the University of Chicago’s Charter School.

“We plan to include all the elements of True Star into our Jr. program; graphic design, radio, and photography,” Executive Director Safiya Edwards said. “We are building on this youth Foundation platform so that all children in every grade level can become media moguls, social entrepreneurs and sustainable business creators.”

In Wolff’s interview with CNBC he made two points to which I agree with. The first point is that the new business model is replacing the old business model. The technology is changing and people are moving in the direction of change so it is up to the news organizations to keep up. The second point is that advertisers are increasingly looking towards the Internet.

I disagreed with Wolff or maybe I did not have an understanding of exactly what he meant when he said, “I’m trying to kill newspapers.” Isn’t that like biting the hand that feeds you? Aggregators, of any kind, are getting their stories from newspapers and new sites i.e. The New York Times. As I was reading what people were saying about Newser.com, I noticed a resounding sentiment. Newser.com is easy, streamlined and not as parasitic as other aggregators. It seems that Wolff has been praised for his brainchild and everyone seems to be impressed that you can manuever and scan through it quickly. The edge Newser has on another aggregator like Huffington Post is that the site is easire to manuever through, but it lacks journalistic integrity. Who are the “writers” that are taking other journalist’s published news stories and editing them into two paragraphs?

As I stated in my FLYPmedia post I like sites that are not convoluted and overwhelming. Newser.com is very user-friendly. The conundrum for me is that yes newser.com is convenient because you can read through major news stories with ease, but I wonder how more condensed we’re going to get with the way we gather and receive news. We are living in the era of microbursts; “the digital info revolution”. I love reading stories. Storytelling is such an important factor in journalism. Sometimes I want the sordid details. Will I be able to get every detail in two paragraphs? Wolff seems over zealous about annihilating traditional journalism with his model. My thoughts? Not going to happen.

Someone might say, “Well you can go view the real newsite to get the whole story. If you want the minute details” Well, what’s the point of the aggregator? I am in no way a traditionalist unwilling to embrace new media. I do think that for certain stories newser.com would be suitable, particularly when I need a quick update, but when I really want the meat of a story it’s not where I’d go and I usually want the meat.

Newser’s tagline is Read Less Know More. Isn’t reading less the problem with America now? Quantity does not equal quality.

Below is a video of Michael Wolff in another interview with Marina Portnaya for RT. He discusses, new media, the state of the industry and newser.com. Take a listen. Leave a comment and tell me what you think?

The armed robbers, men in their 20s, were identified by the victims who were also men in their early to mid 20s. All of the victims were walking alone at the time of the muggings and attacks.
The attackers would walk up behind their victims, ask for their wallets and then savagely beat their victims in the head and face to which two of the victims were hospitalized.

It is not marked on the map, but there was also a robbery in the 3300 block of North Seminary Avenue just a few blocks from Wrigley Field. So far, the Chicago Police Department won’t discuss if it’s connected to the other robberies. However, they said that five of the Lincoln Park robberies were linked, and suspect that two other muggings were related, but haven’t confirmed.

As of December 27, 2009 no arrests have been made. The investigation is ongoing.

What I love about this online magazine is that it has no boundaries. It is refreshing to not be confined to one topic. There are different stories that would appeal to any reader’s sensibility. They have hard-hitting articles like Granny is ok; it’s health care reform that is in serious trouble to more lighthearted features like Jennifer Lopez’s Cupid’s Sweetheart.

Flypmedia is so in depth and so layered. When I was reading the health care reform article, it linked me to an article written by Steven Hill as another viewpoint and there was also an accompanying video of people debating the issue. You have all the elements of great media bottled up in this one Web site. It is a dose of high-octane online journalism and it engages its readers through raw storytelling and creativity.

Although the website is heavily interactive, it is in no way convoluted or overwhelming. It is streamlined perfectly to keep the reader’s attention. I love to read, but I don’t think it’s a secret that most people aren’t reading much these days. The attention span of Americans has shortened considering the changing technology has accustomed us to everything moving at the speed of sound, but even for those who don’t have an affinity for many paragraphs will want to know the story behind the images. The photographs are so crisp and striking. Often newspapers get stuck in the drudgery and forget the appeal.

The newspaper is really dying, although most traditionalist don’t want to admit it. The newspapers are trying desperately to figure out the best model for the internet. Flypmedia is an advertisers dream. They are fresh-faced and could even be the blueprint for new multimedia business model.

I was reading a feature article about the Interactive News Team at the NYTimes where readers got to do a Q & A with each member of the team. Steve Duenes, the graphic director, for the team said, “Readers don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring out how something works. Even when there’s a lot of data, the interface should be designed so that the content is easily accessible.” I believe this to be the key ingredient for multimedia success. Flypmedia gives you all the bells and whistles without the hastle.

I was also reading a Poynter article from 2003 and the first sentence said, “Multimedia editorial content isn’t quite perfect yet — but the best online storytelling by news organizations is pretty darn good.” Well look’y what we have here!! Flypmedia’s multimedia editorial content, to me, is perfection.

In the same article they listed a “What not to do” for aspiring multimedia mavericks. It is as follows:

What not to do
Finally, if your organization is interested in doing a better job of online storytelling. Here’s some advice from the judges on multimedia news content:

1) Don’t be too clever with your interface design. Make it easy for the reader without adding superfluous tricks that detract from the content.

2) Don’t throw too many “gee whiz, look what I can do” components into a multimedia project, when a more routine approach would have been just as, if not more, effective.

3)Don’t toss too much information in a multimedia package unless you’re got a clear organizational scheme with which to guide readers through.

4) Many designers add sounds to buttons, but making them too loud or obnoxious is a turn-off.
If you’re a small online-news organization, don’t try to do too many multimedia projects. Focus on doing a few well during the year, rather than a bunch not as well.

Flypmedia nailed it. It is certainly an innovative addition to the changing landscape of media and exemplary of the growing digital convergence in news. Most importantly it is user-friendly. This magazine could simply be the root of the digital divide. I love it!

    This statement caught my attention immediately in the mashable.com article,8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow’s Journalist by Vadim Lavrusik. We are in an era where keeping up with the everyday digital metamorphosis is pertinent to the success of journalists and media in general. The problem is that because of cutbacks news organizations are seeking veteran journalists who have a plethora of skill sets.

    However, having attended several journalism town halls, conferences, you name it, many veteran journalists seem to still be attached to the old model of journalism and are struggling to keep up, but they are the ones that are securing stable jobs within the industry because of their lengthy experience. It is the new generation who has a vast understanding of the necessity and benefits of blogging, vlogging, multimedia and social networks.

    I believe that the younger generation is intuitively flowing with the wind. They are masters at many trades, but seem to only be equipped enough for contract work or internships because it is highly competitive. Veteran journalists are going to do everything they can to secure their spot in the industry and they have a leg up to do so, but old thinking about the process of journalism is still circulating.

    I do believe that blogging has become an important “must-have” for journalists. Some people still think blogging is a frivolous hobby taken on by anybody rather than an important tool in the changing world of journalism. I don’t think it is impossible to report real news through blogging. Resources and sources are attainable to a blogger in order for them to legitimize their blog. It is not beneficial to a blogger’s credibility to copy and paste, but to do their own research and tell their own story.

    I think Lavrusik’s most important “must have” is no. 3; the open-minded experimenter.  In order for the industry to flourish people have to be open-minded from the start.

     On Online Journalism Blog it states that “because online is implemented into news organizing, your market changes. You can attract readers in another city or country. You can attract readers who wouldn’t pay for a newspaper because it was too generic. And because of this, you can attract advertisers who want to appeal to those readers.” A journalist, veteran or rookie, has to cater to an audience because the audience is the foundation so with changing technology has to come a changing format and platform on the way news is given to the masses.