About Growing Up Baltimore
“GROWING UP BALTIMORE”
MISSION:
About a year ago, WYPR’s news department decided to start a series to focus on what life was like for Baltimore’s at-risk youth. The reasons were simple: The first was the number of violent crimes involving juveniles, including the murder of former City Councilman Kenneth Harris in September 2008. The second was the huge high school dropout rate in Baltimore City Public Schools. And the third was the growing number of community groups, churches and activists involved in day-to-day efforts aimed at saving the city’s most vulnerable children from lives of hopelessness, despair, incarceration, teenage pregnancy, unemployment and death. This series, “Growing Up Baltimore,” is an attempt to tell the stories behind the statistics, as well as provide content and examine the nuances.
WHO WE ARE:
The executive producer of “Growing Up Baltimore” is Deborah George. Ms. George is an award-winning journalist, who worked for more than 20 years as a producer for NPR News. A native of Asbury Park, New Jersey, Ms. George has worked overseas in such places as Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Vietnam. Ms. George worked previously with WYPR, serving as the executive producer of the award-winning documentary on the Baltimore riots, “’68: The Fire Last Time.”
The associate producers of “Growing Up Baltimore” are Mary Rose Madden, Fraser Smith and Sunni Khalid. The original music in the series was composed and produced by Jonathan Ehrens and Andrew Burt.
Mary Rose Madden is the Senior Producer for WYPR News. She is an award-winning journalist and runs the day-to-day operations of the news department. Previously, she worked as a producer for “The Marc Steiner Show.” A native of Connecticut, Ms. Madden is a graduate of Loyola College. She was also a substitute special education teacher in the Baltimore City Public Schools.
Fraser Smith is WYPR’s Senior News Analyst, who writes a weekly, award-winning news commentary and is the host of “Inside Maryland Politics.” A longtime political columnist for The Baltimore Sun, Mr. Smith now writes a column for the Daily Record. Smith worked previously in Providence. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Sunni Khalid is WYPR Managing News Editor. He has a long career in journalism that has spanned print, radio, the internet and television. He is a former foreign correspondent, who has reported all over the globe. A native of Detroit, Khalid is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Karen Hosler is a stringer for WYPR’s news department. For 33 years, she was a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, covering the White House, as well State House in Annapolis. She has been a frequent guest on local television and radio shows and now co-hosts her own news round-up on Friday afternoons on WYPR.
Donna Marie Owens is an award-winning print, television and radio reporter. She has worked for several years in a number of markets. Ms. Owens, a Baltimore native, is a regular contributor to the The Baltimore Sun, several magazines, as well as WYPR.
Sarah Richards, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada, is an award-winning journalist, with experience in print, television and radio. She has worked extensively with the Canadian Broadcasting Company, as well as several other news organizations, including NPR. Ms. Richards is a regular contributor to WYPR and has won a number of awards for her work, which include a Society of Professional Journalists story for WYPR last year.
Jonathan Ehrens is an assistant producer at WYPR. Ehrens, who grew up in suburban Washington, D.C., is a recent graduate of Goucher College in Baltimore. He helps produce “Mid-day With Dan Rodricks,” as well as most daily news stories. Mr. Ehrens is also a musician, playing guitar in a local band. He helped compose the theme music for “Growing Up Baltimore.”
Andrew Burt is a part-time assistant producer. He is a student at Goucher and plays in a number of local rock bands, including Teeth Mountain and the Dan Deacon Ensemble. Mr. Burt helped compose theme music for “Growing Up Baltimore,” as well as some of the series promos. Born in North Carolina, Mr. Burt is a philosophy major.
Sarah Tan was a summer intern with WYPR’s news department. A native of Long Island, New York, Ms. Tan is currently a student at Johns Hopkins University. She helped transcribe many of the interviews conducted for “Growing Up Baltimore.” An editor for her college newspaper, Ms. Tan also produced her first radio news story.
Kenneth Stukes was also a summer intern with WYPR’s news department. A Baltimore native, Mr. Stukes is currently a senior at Towson University, majoring in journalism. During the summer, he produced his first radio reports for WYPR. He transcribed several of the interviews conducted for “Growing Up Baltimore.”
WEB CREDITS:
Video: http://zinniafilms.wordpress.com/
Logo: Graham Dodge at Stevenson Group www.stevensongrp.com
Photography Editing: Grissel Guliano: 860.558.1050 grissel.giuliano@gmail.com
