Richmond Youth Recognized by International Newspaper Award
06 February 2008
Since 2006, Richmond youth have been using the art of writing to have a voice in the community, and breakdown stereotypes of youth. Founded in October 2006, R-View is a youth written and driven publication that is produced in partnership with Richmond Review staff.
This innovative publication recently received a Best Young People’s Coverage award from the Suburban Newspapers of America as part of its 2007 Editorial Contest Awards. R-View was one of only a handful of Canadian publications to win an award in the field of predominately American award winners.
“This recognition for R-View is a testament to the hard work and professionalism of the youth who make up the R-View team,” explains Wayne Yee, Youth Services Advisor for the City of Richmond. “We also want to extend our sincere thanks to Bhreandain Clugston and Martin van den Hemel, from the Richmond Review, who volunteer hours of their own time providing journalistic and technical mentoring. Their mentorship fully illustrates how adults can support and enrich the sparks, like writing, that all youth in our community have.”
The purpose of R-View is to develop a journalism based, work experience for youth roughly 13-19 yrs:
- to breakdown stereotypes about youth
- to articulate youth voices to the community
- for readers to gain an insight into youth culture
- gain valuable skill development and experience from professional journalists
The youth who make up the R-View team are selected through a 500 word submission and interview process. The youth commit their time to regular team meetings and workshops. Throughout the year, they are assigned stories which are subject to journalist standards in order to be published.
In 2007, three R-View editions totalling 36 pages were published. The 2007 R-View team was made up of 10 youth. The current team has six returning youth and nine new members.
