Radio Vida (Radio Life)

Chicago, IL, 2000

As the only bilingual (Spanish/English), youth-operated community station in the nation, Radio Arte has a great responsibility to the teens who operate and listen to the station, to Chicago's Pilsen/Little Village community, and to the larger Mexican/Latino population. As a “first voice” forum, Radio Arte's overall mission is to encourage and train youth to express themselves creatively and responsibly through the broadcast medium, while motivating them to inform the public about important community, cultural, political, and health-related issues.

In order to address health issues pertinent to its community, the station created Radio Vida, a health education project designed to help community members, especially youth, maximize their quality of life. Radio Vida produced a 12-month series of educational programs on substance abuse, including tobacco, illicit drugs, and alcohol, targeting Latina/o youth by reflecting their cultures and experiences.

The programs, created start to finish by youth, fused documentary-style interviewing, reporting, and music to spark the curiosity and hold the interest of young listeners. Professionals at Illinois Masonic's Adolescent Health Services guided producers in conducting research and offered advice on interviewing subjects suffering health complications due to substance abuse or who were participating in recovery programs. They also provided sensitivity training on how to interact appropriately with interviewees.

Youth reporters and producers successfully engaged the cooperation of senior representatives from a range of organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the Chicago Police Department, and the Juvenile Court Systems, as well as a host of other organizations who work in the area of substance abuse. One youth producer said, “I've learned never to be afraid to call someone to ask for an interview or information, even when that person is in a very important position. They are more willing to talk to kids than I ever thought they'd be.”

Radio Vida encouraged community feedback through telephone, its Web site, and e-mail. In addition, the two organizations collaboratively designed a bilingual brochure and co-sponsored a health fair targeting youth in community schools, centers, and clinics. By participating in Radio Vida, young community members found that not only their own lives were changed, but also the lives of their peers, now and in the future.

Contact Information

WRTE-FM
Yolanda Rodríguez Pacheco, General Manager
Tel:312-455-9455

Illinois Masonic Medical Center
Teresa Ramos, M.D., Director of Adolescent Health Services
Tel:773-296-5464

Tel:

Awards:

WRTE Round Three
$15,000
— Membership & Pledge Drive for Radio Vida, a collaboration with Benito Juarez High School
$5,000 — The WGN Neediest Kids Fund
$10,000 Coming Up Taller Award
— The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

Round Two
Special Merit, Pre-produced Local Public Affairs Broadcasting
— National Federation of Community Broadcasters
Additional funding was received from the Michael Reese Foundation.