Just Words
By Rebekah Hallisey
Keonya-Christian Cannon picked up her brother from school every day. One day, she was caught in the crossfire of a gang fight.
This story and many more like it are told in Just Words, a Peabody Award-winning radio program about the working poor in Baltimore. Series host Marc Steiner and producer Jessica Phillips visited the College of Southern Maryland Oct. 17 to discuss the program.
The program was created on the premise of giving a voice to those who are normally denied a say. Steiner said the program focuses on those who feel their "humanity has been denied." For example, the series tells the stories of Lucille Robinson, who takes care of her five grandchildren, and Nargas Hyman, who takes in homeless people.
Steiner and Phillips were interviewed at CSM's Leonardtown Campus by student Jerome Newberry and the audience was able to hear select podcasts from the program.
Later in the night, audience members asked the journalists questions. One attendee asked Steiner and Phillips if any of the subjects stood out as their favorite. The pair commented that they enjoyed working with all of the subjects. However, Nargas Hyman stood out in their minds. "She believes human beings are not trash and that people have value," said Phillips.
Steiner and Phillips emphasized that they tried to make sure they did not exploit their subjects, making them victims of "parachute journalism" (i.e. dropping in on the subject's world just for a good story) as other media have done in the past. Instead, the pair wanted to portray their subjects' stories accurately. Steiner said other stories focus on "showing muck, not the light coming out of the muck."
Just Words, Steiner and Phillips said, is about perseverance. They said these people are trying to change the world from the inside out.
Just Words was made possible by a grant from the Open Society Institute--Baltimore and was produced by the Center for Emerging Media. To listen to the podcasts, visit http://www.centerforemergingmedia.org/podcasts/just-words.
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