Center for Emerging Media: Just Word

One voice not often heard on the airwaves, if at all, is that of the working poor. Hurricane Katrina brought the faces of America’s poor into the living rooms of our nation. Americans were appalled as they watched tragedy after tragedy unfold on the evening news, with the poor bearing the brunt of the damages. The deep divide between those of means and those without was driven home, as the injustice became no longer economic but a glaring matter of life and death.

Baltimore faces its own set of challenges around the issues of poverty and justice. The Open Society Institute-Baltimore has been a leading force in the struggle to correct the imbalance. OSI sponsored the first Just Words series, launched in 2003, which brought voices of the poor and their advocates into the homes of Baltimore public radio listeners. In addition, OSI’s Community Fellowship Program has fostered new and creative ways of addressing our urban ills since its inception in 1998. Some of the most innovative, effective and powerful ideas concerning the urban landscape have come from the OSI Fellows.

The Center for Emerging Media is proposing a new Just Words series will use the power of the media even more effectively to shed light on the lives of Baltimore’s urban poor. The proposed series will include a web-based component, and will devote more resources so that stories can be developed at an even deeper level. In addition, the new Just Words series will showcase the work of some of the current and past OSI Fellows, which will allow a broader view of the urban landscape.

The Open Society Institute-Baltimore supported the initial incarnation of Just Words, launched in 2003, and we hope that OSI will consider funding the proposed Just Words series, which promises to take the consideration of the issues of poverty and justice to a more in-depth level, thus deepening the discussion in our community.

In 2003, the Open Society Institute–Baltimore provided funding for the production of a new radio program called Just Words, for airing on Baltimore’s local National Public Radio station, WYPR, Just Words was originally conceptualized as a monthly series of programs that would report and reflect on the stories of “public justice” in the Baltimore community and would air during Morning Edition or All Things Considered. The series’ objectives were: to give airtime to the stories, struggles, tales and legal battles of those often invisible in our community; and to address issues that test the boundaries of justice, the constitution, and America’s notion of freedom.

Just Words evolved into a regular series of programs on the Marc Steiner Show, combined with local news department stories that were aired during Morning Edition. Over a two-year period, the series covered such important topics as: day laborers; inner city public schools; prisoner reentry; prison conditions; addiction; and reforming poor communities. The voices of advocates from key local organizations such as the Public Justice Center, Homeless Person’s Representation Project, and Healthcare for the Homeless were heard, as well as those of the individuals whose lives were directly affected by the issues at hand. These individuals were given a forum where they could discuss their lives and struggles in their own words.

The original Just Words series provided a much-needed glimpse into the struggles faced by Baltimore’s inner city poor. To be a truly effective media presence, however, Just Words must go beyond the original idea and platform. With the appropriate personnel, equipment, and access to media outlets, Just Words will have the capacity to affect public opinion and, ultimately, public policy.

The proposed project will take Just Words to the next level, probing even more deeply into the lives of Baltimore’s most underprivileged – and unseen – citizens. A key component of the new Just Words will be the inclusion of current and former OSI Fellows as they and the people with whom they are working will be allowed to tell their stories. The Fellows will become integral to the project, as they will be included in roundtable discussions on the Marc Steiner Show and in their own on-air roundtables. Through the inclusion of OSI Fellows and their work, Just Words will transform into a vision for urban America as we hear the voices and words of those performing the pragmatic work that gives hope to the future.

The original basis for Just Words, hearing about the lives and stories of the working poor, will continue to be critical to this project. There is nothing more powerful or poignant than to hear stories in people’s own words. Such a telling captures the drama, humor, pain, and will to succeed – the reality behind the headlines, which give us nothing but the worst images of those who are struggling to make ends meet.

In our “immediate gratification” society, programming must approach its work through all possible media platforms in order to survive and have an impact on those who experience it. With 20 million daily listeners, public radio is the one medium that is growing its base and utilizing the Internet effectively. This new Just Words project will begin on local public radio, expand to the broader NPR market, and then broaden its reach even further through the sound, video, and interactive capability of the Internet.