About Us

 

2022 Summer Youth Podcast Academy students and The Bell’s staff. Photo by Brent Adams

 
 

Mission

The Bell equips New York City students with the tools to tell impactful stories today and the skills to thrive in the media careers of tomorrow.

We do this by:

  • Running audio journalism internship programs for public high school students who report and publish stories on issues that directly affect them.

  • Partnering with professional journalists to provide our students valuable mentorship and extend the reach of their stories.

  • Collaborating with partners across the city and country to advocate for equitable investment in youth journalism programs.

We prioritize students from populations that are underrepresented in the journalism field and whose voices are too often neglected by traditional media.

Core Values

Our work is guided by the following values.

  • Center students — Students drive our decisions at every level of the organization.

  • Build community — We prioritize relationships.

  • Listen with care — Inclusivity and empathy are at the foundation of our work as storytellers.

  • Disrupt the status quo — We are not limited by the way things have usually been done.

  • Inspire action — We tell stories designed to make people act in ways that get us closer to racial and social justice.

History

Taylor McGraw and Adrian Uribarri, co-founders of The Bell

Founded by former teachers and journalists Adrian Uribarri and Taylor McGraw in 2017, The Bell originated as a podcast to amplify the voices of New York City high school students on the issue of school segregation. Early conversations with students gave birth to public storytelling events and, eventually, a powerful student-led advocacy group called Teens Take Charge that has since become an independent organization.

In Spring 2018, The Bell partnered with The Hechinger Report to create an internship program to teach students how to report stories for the podcast, which the first group of interns renamed Miseducation. Since then, dozens of high school students have completed the internship, producing episodes on issues ranging from inequitable school admissions to racial disparities in access to school sports.

Members of the first intern cohort in 2018

In Summer 2020, The Bell partnered with Gimlet Media to create the Summer Youth Podcast Academy, a three-week bootcamp-style program taught by industry professionals. Serving 12 young people ages 15-21 every summer, SYPA has become a premier podcast training program for young New Yorkers.

In 2021-22, The Bell completed a youth-led research project on the State of Youth Journalism in New York City. The results alarmed us. Journalism education in public high schools has become increasingly rare, with only about 10% of high schools producing a student newspaper or news site. Driven to reverse this trend and propel more students from underrepresented backgrounds into journalism, we spearheaded the creation of the NYC Youth Journalism Coalition in Fall 2022.

Impact

Miseducation alumna Renika Jack, who graduated from high school in 2022, is studying journalism at York College and working on her own podcast.

Since 2018, we have trained more than 100 NYC high school students in audio journalism and published more than 60 podcast episodes featuring their voices.

Our episodes have been downloaded more than 110,000 times, and an even bigger audience has heard our students’ work live on the WNYC airwaves, on The New Yorker Radio Hour and elsewhere.

Many of our alumni go on to pursue journalism opportunities in college. Some have created their own podcasts. But no matter what they choose to do, our alumni report a greater confidence in their writing and speaking abilities; a deeper understanding of systemic injustices; and a strengthened belief in the the power of their voices to create change.

Editorial Policy

Our staff and student journalists make editorial decisions independently with no influence from donors, outisde partners, volunteers or others who might seek to sway our coverage.

No one conceives, reports, edits, reviews or produces our stories except us.

Our Supporters

We’re grateful to the following foundations, organizations and institutions for their support.

  • Charles H. Revson Foundation

  • DJ McManus Foundation

  • Education Writers Association

  • FJC

  • Gimlet Media

  • Harman Family Foundation

  • Leadership for Educational Equity

  • The New School

  • The Pinkerton Foundation

  • Siegel Family Endowment

  • Solon E. Summerfield Foundation

  • Spotify