Allison Jones '07 comes up with segment for New York NPR radio station.
Even before first-year student Allison Jones completes the fall semester at Haverford, her life's experiences will have been the subject of a segment on National Public Radio. What's more, she will have produced the story herself.
For six months, beginning last March, Allison was an intern at New York City's NPR station, WNYC – FM (93.9). She was part of the station's“Radio Rookies” program, which gives young people from around the city a chance to produce a story about an issue that's important to them personally.
Allison's story, which aired on“Morning Edition” through November 1 on WNYC, is about class division in New York's Bedford-Stuyvesant, a predominantly black, impoverished neighborhood where she grew up. Most of her life, however, was spent in private, predominantly white schools.“My tastes, interests, and life-style were more similar to those of my white friends than those of kids in my community,” says Allison.“At home the other kids often ridiculed, me calling me a ‘white girl' and saying that I was not 'black enough.'”
Their comments, says Allison, made her think about her role in her home and the black community at large.“I felt excluded from the black community because of the school I attended, yet I felt pressured to give to my community because of the shared history and culture,” she says.
Over fall break, Allison attended the Third Coast International Audio Festival, a“celebration of the best feature and documentary work heard worldwide on the radio and the Internet.” Organized by a team from Chicago public radio, the festival included a competition, a nationwide broadcast, website, and a Chicago-based listening series.
