"Though we are born to be great, it doesn't just come to us; we must work hard to achieve it. Nobody is born a famous man, no one is born a mediocre; we all decide our fate according to the step (steps) we take to achieve what lies in front for us."

Written in 2008 by Benjamin Emmans --- Nigeria

" All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions:1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?" -Immanuel Kant

“I'm quite in love with the human race and this planet we live on. I see life as very fresh and beautiful. People say to me 'Oh you have the world in your hands,' or 'You're young, and you have all these opportunities.' But that's not why I feel the way I do. It's just my reality. I've felt that way before too. Still, I get very frustrated with the pace of life - I want so badly for people just to understand each other and communicate better! With all this technology, that's the best we can do? Pride so often gets in the way, in politics and everywhere else. It's depressing.”

Media Kit

Mission Statement

Young Philly aims to reach out to the youth of Philadelphia. Those living in Silence, althought they have every right to speak out about the crime and violence personally affecting them right inside their neighborhoods.

Young Philly strives to reach out to these individuals and diminish some of that fear, provide different outlets for young teenagers rather than drugs, alcohol, violence and sex.

Young Philly will help teenagers and young adults "stay cool" without being put behind bars for a pointless, or sometimes more serious crime.

Too many teenagers and young adults living within the urban area of Philadelphia have the burden of too much responsibility on their shoulders. They are raising their own siblings because their parent/s are out working two/three jobs or on the streets at night. Young Philly will help these kids hold on to their youth because as we all know, you can never get that time back once lost.


Audience

While the world we live in sometimes becomes dominated by race, gender and sexual preference, we cannot help but wonder how much longer this mindset will last. While some learn these biases from their parents, no statistics can fully demonstrate the way we view one another in society. One thing is for sure, we have evolved from past decades.

Young Philly will be a publication for the youth. The audience will range from approximately 14-23 years, targeting the mindset of that era.. Those reading will most likely be from a middle to low class income, struggling in the inner city, trying to get by.

Most teenagers at this time of their life begin to experiment with drugs and alcohol, especially in the inner city. They learn faster than those in the suburbs how easy it is to get away with this malicious and rebellious behavior. While these statistics do not target every teenagers, they do provide a general sense of where teenagers are headed.

• In the U.S., 4 in 10 young women become pregnant before the age of 20.


• Teens 16-19 were three and one half times more likely to be victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault.


• 1 in 4 sexually active teenas becomes infected with an STD every year.


• 1 in 12 persons (age 12-15) were the victims of murder and crime as opposed to 1 in 357 (65&older)


• Approximately 80% of current smokers started before the age of 18.


• Tobacco is often the first drug used by teens who start experimenting with alcohol and drugs.


• More than 56 percent of youth, age 12-17 said it was easy to obtain marijuana


• Each year, students spend 5.5 billion dollars on alcohol more than they do on non-alcoholic drinks, food and books combined


• Eight people on average a die a day in an alcohol-related crash


• 47% of teen and young adults dropped out of school in Philadelphia alone.

These statistics were taken from http://www.soundvision.com/

Content

Young Philly mainly focuses on the youth living in the inner city of Philadelphia, dealing with all the problems and isses that teenagers face. The contents provided will allow these young people to relate and provide their own input and personal experience, while also providing some entertainment. Regular sections of the publication will include:

Voices: The teenagers and young adults living in the various neighborhoods of Philadelphia will have the opportunity to speak out about personal experiences that they have gone through. Some of these issues can include venting about peer pressure or reaching out for help on alcohol-related problems. Whatever the problem, big or small, the young person will use a username so he/she will not have to feel embarassed about their input. However, just like with websites used today such as MySpace and Facebook, the site will be censored for any misguided behavior.

Breakthrough: This section will honor those teenagers and young adults who have overcome certain obstacles and are doing well with their lives. It will provide role models within their own age frames that teenagers and young adults will have the opportunity to confide in and relate with.

Multimedia: This section will be dedicated to providing video input along nwith journalistic stories that will dominate failing neighborhoods in the inner city. It will acknowledge struggling neighborhoods that for so long have gone unrecognized, in hopes that by both showing and telling the story, the effect will be greater. It will mainly be from the eyes of a teenager.

Creativity: This section will honor the creativity of teenagers and young adults who are not recognized in the city because they feel unworthy. Different High School's will be honored showing their work.

Along with these sections, the publication will provide lisitngs to different events that different high schools are sponsoring including dances, sporting events and tournaments. It will also provide feature stories about High Schools and what they are doing to help the community.

The tone will be fun, creative, sarcastic, serious, friendly, happy and optimistic. But most of all Young Philly will aim to provide hope for these teenagers and young adults who have no choice but to live in poor conditions. It will be a nice escape to vent and feel free to speak out.

Distribution Method and Ads

The content will be updated every week on the website. However, the site will be open daily to subscribers to comment and provide their input. To subscribe, the user will have to provide information but no charge will apply. Each week, a new issue will come out and have different points it will pick up on. We will provide short stories of personal experiences that the young people can relate to. The issues will revolve around current issues that are happening within the neighborhood. One week it could be alcoholism, the next gun control.

Different High Schools of the area will have the chance ti advertise in Young Philly. Other targeted advertisers will include different community organizations and sports teams of the neighborhoods. The list is endless with community businesses but the main message will be that this is a c ommunity effort to better tha failing situations of teenagers and young adults in Philadelphia.

Contact Information

For any questions regarding Young Philly, feel free to email Bonnie at bonnie.dugan@temple.edu.

Young Philly is the last stop for Hope in the failing neighborhoods of Philadelphia.