The material is very innovative and tells the stories of neglected American voices; particularly, profiles of American Men and Women living in neglected or misunderstood communities. The issues, such as poverty, juvenile, justice, prison, and rape, are compelling enough to spark discussion.

This project truly represents the types of stories that are successful and effective online. Using audio to tell the stories, the voices are particularly important. StoryCorps has a keen eye, or ear, for what translates best through this forum. The documentaries are unbelievably unique and fresh. Even if you don’t relate to the communities, you still get something out of them.

Since they are so fresh and different from what’s out there that we see on a regular basis, they appeal to, and can be appreciated by a wide audience. “Witness to an Execution,” for example, was especially compelling. It tells the stories of those involved in the execution of death row inmates at the Walls Unit in Hunstville, Texas. No matter who you are or what you’re interested in, these documentaries can speak to you and give you a different perspective.

Despite her struggles, she’s a very happy person who simply won’t give up. “I work two jobs in order to support myself and it’s not easy but I have an amazing boyfriend who loves me and helps me get through any problems.”

Hollee has always worked two jobs since graduating high-school. However, these part-time jobs are usually short-lived and begin to pile up on your resume. “I wanted to get a full-time job since I wasn’t going to college, but I realized how hard it would be without a degree; and after a bad experience at one job I realized I wanted to go to school so I could do the things I want to do.”

Hollee has taken out loans in order to pay for school and enrolled for her first semester at Essex Community College. On top of that, she still works the two jobs. Hollee says shes prepared for the long road ahead and knows it won’t be easy. But since she can’t depend on anyone but herself, she really values making the most out of this experience. Even though her life is hectic, she proves that attitude and values necessary for achieving the dream.

 USA Today posted a good story called “Recession Generation? Young Adults Brace for Simpler Lifestyle” that shows how young people are coping and staying hopeful. This story is part of their package, “Refocusing the Dream,” which personalizes the economic struggle and contextualizes what’s going on.  Young people have gained the reputation of being self-absorbed, lazy, and materialistic consumers, who don’t have much to lose during this recession. Some scholars suggest a very uncertain future for Millenials.  

Whatever the charges, this generation is the future of the economy. The recession has taught them this means adjusting the vision of the American Dream and bracing for less-materialistic lifestyles. Scholars say this recession shape the values and attitudes of Millenials the same way “the Great Depression shaped the values and attitudes of those growing up in the 1930s.”

So the recession could be good for repairing the negative perception of Generation Y. Ultimately,  young people will change by becoming more frugal in spending, downsizing expectations, and shifting direction. One thing will remain the same though, and that’s their optimistism: a quality that will beneficial for getting through economic recovery.

“I am only getting one shift a week right now, which just isn’t cutting it. I can’t quit because I might not find a new job, but I’m definitly going to be going job-hunting until I can find something better.” Christen has posted her resume on a number of career and job search web-sites. She looks in the newspaper classifieds regularly and fills out applications online as much as possible. In her 2 week search, she has heard about one internship opportunity and consented to an interview.

“I’m excited about the internship because it would be great for my resume and for networking.” Even though this was a positive opportunity Christen said she was more nervous for this interview than for previous. “I know how bad the job market is right now so I definitly needed to prepare more than usual for this interview. I knew there would be a lot of pressure to sell myself and that I would have to be more competitive than usual.”

Even though the odds are not in her favor, Christen remains positive about the situation. She said if she doesn’t get the internship it’s ok because it can be a learning opportunity. Now she has an idea of what employers are looking for and how to master the interview, which is why she’s not giving up on her search any time soon. Christen is committed to the search and says she will settle for babysitting jobs until an opportunity comes her way. Hopefully I can talk to her in more depth to learn more about her journey and others like her.

This article links America’s economic crisis with education. Krugers attempts to make the point that the value of education has suffered in the recession, which has detrimental consequences for young people and society in general. Kruger alleges the past 30 years of our political scene has been dominated by the view that any government spending is a waste. Furthermore, education has inevitably suffered. He warns that the results of educational neglect will get much worse as the economic crisis continues to set up more hurdles.

What’s particularly interesting is America: the former top-dog in educating its young, has been gradually falling behind other countries. Despite this reality, many Americans still blindly see the country as “the great land of college education.” Many young people are unaware of the shift and erosion taking place and are naive enough to view America as the land of opportunity, even with the current economic crisis.

Also alarming is the fact that we have a college graduation rate below the average across other advanced economies. And Kruger blames this on the fact that America makes it hard for those with limited financial means to stay in school. This especially relates to my topic because 2 of the people I interviewed are working in the serving industry yet they are unable to afford school. So what does this mean for them? If these next statistics mean anything, then they will most likely not finish college and work full-time.

In America, students are far more likely than their counterparts to hold part-time jobs while still attending classes, and according to this CNN report, it can be beneficial or harmful. Also not surprising was the accusation young Americans are less likely to stay in school and more likely to become full-time workers instead. What does this mean for college students? What does this mean for young people not in college?

According to Kruger, this could mean a lifetime of damage to many students’ prospects — and a large waste of human potential. But if there’s one thing my interviews have showed me throughout this process, is that with the right attitude and right use of opportunities, any hurdles can be overcome.

1. Anecdote. The anecdote is a sequence of actions…”the story in its purest form.” The anecdote has a momentum that can transform even the most boring story into an attention keeper. You can feel that you are headed to a destination.
2. Moment of Reflection. At some point the writer needs to reveal the purpose of the story. They must explain to the reader why they are reading it.

One of the most important points he emphasizes is that even a great anecdote can mean absolutely nothing. This reinforces the idea that a good story requires effective use of both building blocks.

So how do you turn a good anecdote into a compelling purpose? Ira Glass would say, perseverence.

In his second storytelling tutorial, Glass talks about the difficulty of finding great stories. He says there is a misconception that producing the story will take longer than finding an interesting story. Just as much time needs to be put into searching for compelling stories and testing them out. If your sources aren’t compelling enough, be the super-achiever and kill it so that something better can live. My favorite part about this segment is when Glass says “failure is part of success,” because it shows how you need to sift through the bad before you can get to something really special. 

The third installment talks about the nature of good taste. Most people who produce interesting and creative work went through a phase where they had really good taste but they could tell what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. I really liked that in this video he tries to ease the anxiety that comes with producing good stories. Glass does a good job in being motivational by saying hey, everyone goes through this so its not a big deal. The key thing here is to keep working and do a huge volume of work. “It’s the only way to catch up and close the gap.” My favorite part of this segment, is when Glass plays one of his old clips. He does this to show that even he went through a time where he produced mediocre stuff, so it is important not to stress yourself out about it. The work can be used the work for critiqing, which helps you learn and evolve. It is important  realize that it’s going to take a while so be a warrior and keep fighting.

The fourth Glass storytelling tutorial details the two common errors beginners make.

1. Trying to emulate and sound like the professionals we’ve heard on TV.
2. Stories showing only one personality.

He explains that the best bet is to be yourself and enhance your own style; and to create a balance between the interviewees and you in the story. If you follow this advice and take it to heart, you are guaranteed to produce compelling stories.

The first part explains online journalists need to learn how to communicate stories in less time, catering to the ‘wandering eye’. My favorite part about this section is his concept of chunking, used to communicate long pieces so you don’t have to cut anything out or start from scratch.

He goes on to discuss the next basic skill necessary: Adaptability. In order to be successful and effective, the online journalist must be able to adapt to the new age, maintaining basic media literacy, knowing how to write quickly and succintly, and able to locate information and sources through RSS Feeds, editing software, journalistic interactivity, and databases. Not only do journalists need to be adaptable, but the information should be too by making use of all the resources offered on the Internet. I particularly like that he says the core skills of any news gathering requires time and practice.  Hopefully with time and practice, I will be more effective at writing/creating multimedia content for the web.

The next section emphasizes Scanability, which goes on further about the importance of writing for the web and the internet eye. Here he talks about the importance of links, headline titles, and communicating the most important information first. This section really opened my eyes to the different world offered by the internet, and how differently people act online rather in print or in broadcast.

Bradshaw inevitably leads us to the fourth skill or part of the series: Interactivity. This is extremely important to me, since it most clearly represents the doors the internet has opened up for ordinary citizens to be actively engaged in the news process, and the pressures its put on journalists to remain top-of-the-game by thinking how to give control to readers and engage them and knowing which parts of the story should be told in audio, video, slideshow, or text. To me, this is the most distinct skill that was brought along with online journalism and represents the shift in traditional journalism.

The last part, broken up into two sub-sections( part 1, and part 2), names Community and Conversation powerful concepts for any journalist. Today, the community has just as much power as the journalist so journalists must learn how to work with them. Even though this has undermined the role of the journalist somewhat, journalists can still contribute to the community in a number of ways he discusses in further detail. Bradshaw says the biggest challenge for news organizations today is persuading users to join their network. This takes time, practice, and proper use of online resources to reach communities and generate conversations. Conversation has always been and always will be an essential part of journalism. But the internet speeds up the flow of information through conversation. Successful online journalists have learned how to utilize social networking sites, e-mail, blogs, and instant messaging and how opening work up for comments, while being an active commentator on other works and linking to sources will keep work from falling flat.

Bradshaw provides a great introduction to online journalism. One should note that doing all of these things does not ensure you success, yet victory and recognition come from knowing when and how to utilize the skills in a way that caters to the new age of journalism. We are living in a fast world, so journalists have to keep up with the occupation’s ever-changing face.

In fact, she considers DuClaw her “home away from home” and looks forward to talking, joking, laughing, and working with co-workers every minute she’s on the clock. Despite the service industry’s hit from the tough economic times, Laura has never considered finding a new job.

What makes this even more interesting: she’s 6 months pregnant, single, and independent. Some may wonder how she will be able to support another human, when her minimum wage job hardly supports one. Laura just laughs at these claims since she’s never been much of a worrier. In her own words, “I believe in doing whatever makes you happy, surrounding yourself with wonderful people, and taking a laid-back approach…Life’s too short to get overly excited about hardships because they will pass and if you don’t allow yourself to be consumed by negativity, than you can get through anything.”

Laura firmly believes that business will pick up again and the veil of doom will be lifted. Until then, the most she can do is become the master of her craft and pay special attention to loyal guests. If she takes advantage of her resources and potential, then her tips may not have to rely on business.

The CNN newscast in particular brought to light that teenage unemployment is at a record high as well. This piece of data relates particularly well to my topic of young people coping in the recession because:

1. Young people, particularly college students, must cope with the recession too, since
2. Many parents are unable to afford college without some sort of aid, which
3. Causes questioning of the college education, and
4. They must adapt to the needs of the present, meaning the current labor market has raised the bar and added increased pressure for rising professionals to be more ambitious, more creative, more innovative, more hard-working than the next person by utilizing all the tools/resources available to them.

The CNN Article also touched on the effect this news will have for consumers.   John Silvia, chief economist with Wells Fargo Securities was quoted saying, “It’s a huge challenge to consumer spending. It’s going to be a tough Christmas for a lot of families, a lot of retailers and any businesses that depends on the consumer.” What will this mean for the service industry, who make the most profit during this time?

With the forecast of job gains being in 2010, you can’t help but wonder how this affects people, how they are coping, and future plans. Despite the bad news delivered from these reports, many people are relying on optimism, positivity, and perseverance to get them through these tough times.

By sharing these stories and putting a human face to the dreadful statistics, others can relate and feel compelled to remain hopeful, knowing that people just like them are surviving through the recession.

Christen is a waitress at the popular burger joint, Red Robin in Towson, MD. While service remains steady, Christen said the organization is highly over-staffed, making it hard to get hours. And we all know that less hours=less money. Christen, having been there since April, has gained some sort of seniority and is scheduled on average 2-3 days a week, which is lucky to most employees. With such few shifts, Christen still gets text messages and calls/requests from staff members every day, begging to take her shift. Before the economic slump, Christen would have been eager to give up one of her shifts to work on homework or go out with friends, but in this day and age, she is reluctant to give up any shifts for any reason, knowing that she needs all the hours she can get to make enough money for rent.

Despite these hardships, Christen remains optimistic and exerts this cheery energy that you cannot help but pick up on. Christen, like others, believes that things will get better sooner rather than later, so all she can do is remain patient and positive. She admits of wanting to give in and quit, in hopes of finding a more successful industry to work in, but with only babysitting offers coming her way, she wants to stick it out since it what she knows best…because who doesn’t love a tasty, juicy burger.

One of my favorite songs at the moment sums up this situation perfectly: “Look on the Bright Side of Life,” Rebelution.