Teen Voices at Women’s eNews is a fresh stage in the evolution of Teen Voices, a print publication and mentoring program that began in Boston in 1988. In 2013, the organization entrusted Women’s eNews to retain the brand and expand the Teen Voices mission on a global scale through adult-written articles that put girls’ voices in the mainstream media.
Teen Voices at Women’s eNews is the premiere source for global news on girls’ experiences, perspectives and challenges, cultivating the next generation of social activist journalists and bridging the gap between generations of female readers on our site.
Teen Voices at Women’s eNews will work to achieve two primary objectives:
- Improve the representation of young women in the media by reporting news stories that are built around their experiences, opinions and realities,
- Increase teen girls’ access to education with mentoring and opportunities to amplify their work and writing with international, content-producing partnerships.
Why It Matters
All too often articles about teens do not contain the voices of the young people they are reporting about. The Global Media Mentoring Project (2015) found that only 24% of the people heard or read about in print, radio and television news are female. Teen Voices at Women’s eNews is a catalyst for changing female representation in the news.
Why Women’s eNews
Women’s eNews is an impact-driven nonprofit organization that creates social change by disseminating information and focusing attention on the rights of women and girls around the world through investigative reporting.
With more 800,000 unique readers last year alone, including activists, educators, policy makers and world leaders, the site helps sets the news agenda for conventional media. By providing girls access to this powerful, multinational platform with a global audience Women’s eNews is creating opportunities for change.
By continuing the legacy of Teen Voices, Women’s eNews is expanding the value of the content by introducing readers to the experiences and work of female teens around the world. This also creates an entry point for younger readers and an opportunity for girls to “grow-up” with Teen Voices and Women’s eNews.
Our Mentoring Program
In addition to creating publishing opportunities for young writers through content partnerships with writing focused programs, including Girls Write Now and Daraja Academy, Teen Voices at Women’s eNews will establish the site as a go-to place for news about young women by piloting these programs:
- Teen Voices Virtual Newsroom In order to extend the reach of young women to be actively involved, Teen Voices will operate a virtual newsroom. Through our network of teen journalists, we will cultivate and train girls as writers and reporting. Mentoring will be provided by staff editors and adult writers.
- A Seat at the Table. In this series, modeled after the New York Times’ “Table for Three,” an adult woman leader and a female teen leader come together for a self-moderated fireside chat that brings an intergenerational conversation on leadership and feminism to global decision makers.
Our Editor
Teen Voices at Women’s eNews is led by Katina Paron, a youth journalism expert who has 21+ years of experience youth media experience. Paron got her start at the original Teen Voices in a YMCA basement in Boston in 1994. Her experiences there launched a career in the burgeoning field and led her to create the youth news service Children’s PressLine. She also leads the NYC High School Journalism Collaborative at Baruch College, serving to support high school newspapers and journalists throughout the city. In her role as Editor of Teen Voices at Women’s eNews, she will work with Women’s eNews staff to develop the program into an important, timely and engaging space for authentic teen girl voices and social impact.