{"id":372228,"date":"2026-06-24T00:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372228\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T00:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T00:24:15","slug":"youth-radio-reopens-in-oakland-providing-programs-to-new-cohort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372228\/","title":{"rendered":"Youth Radio Reopens in Oakland, Providing Programs to New Cohort"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The nonprofit, which shuttered in 2024, will restart its hands-on media training for youth this week.<\/p>\n<p>Jun 23, 2026<\/p>\n<p>Updated 4:52 pm PT<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-1322020222.jpg\"  alt=\"A young Black woman in blue denim helps a multiethnic group of students in front of a room of desktop computers.\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Project associate Joi Morgan assists students Brandon Coles (center) and Tino Becerra in music production at Youth Radio in 2013. The Oakland nonprofit is reopening this week after shutting down in 2024 due to financial issues. \u00a0(Michael Macor\/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">Youth Radio is back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">The Oakland nonprofit, which had supported youth involvement in media for more than 30 years before shutting down in 2024, announced Tuesday that it will resume operations effective this week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">Youth Radio will continue to be headquartered inside its longstanding location at 17th and Broadway in downtown Oakland, which it owns. Its programs restart on Wednesday, June 24, with an orientation for its first cohort of 16 participants.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">The reopening is due to a small group of \u201cdedicated board members and community members,\u201d according to Maeven McGovern, a longtime employee of the organization who has taken on the role of executive director.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">Funding for the reopening has come from a variety of sources: board members, small donors, grants from Elevate Youth California and the Wellness Foundation. Youth Radio also received a loan from Community Vision to assist with mortgage payments.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YouthRadio.building.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991018\"  \/>Youth Radio\u2019s headquarters in downtown Oakland. The community nonprofit owns the building at 17th and Broadway. <\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">A crowdfunding campaign, which launched in 2024 and raised roughly $18,000, \u201chelped keep the lights on and keep things moving while we were figuring out how to reopen,\u201d said McGovern.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">Everyone involved with the reopening effort has a long history with Youth Radio, said McGovern, \u201cbut weren\u2019t very involved with the leadership that was in place when it closed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">So far, the staffing is modest, with one full-time program manager and three part-time instructors, along with McGovern. The organization, which expects to grow with time, is currently using consultants for administration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">Still, the reopening is a welcome return for a community organization that had become plagued by financial issues. By the time it shut down in November 2024, staff had not been paid for more than a month, and employee health insurance insurance premiums had lapsed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">It marked a confounding end to a beloved program. Youth Radio had provided equipment, training and mentorship for all aspects of media, including film, radio, podcasting, music and photography. It counted among its alumni TV newscaster Lanaya Lewis, music producer 1 O.A.K. and rapper IamSu.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/YouthRadio.1993opening.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13991020\"  \/>A group of young people at Youth Radio in 1993, the year the organization was launched.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">McGovern herself worked in various roles at Youth Radio for 13 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">\u201cThe skills and industry experience that young people gain from their experience at Youth Radio is probably what we\u2019re really known for,\u201d said McGovern. \u201cBut the sense of community that exists at the organization is what most people in it really remember. And honestly, when I heard about what happened, I just wanted to help in any way that I could.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">The sessions starting this week are introductory training programs, with room to grow as more cohorts join. McGovern noted the rise of \u201ccontent creators,\u201d and said that while Youth Radio\u2019s programs prioritized journalism, they would likely also see more vertical video editing, along with podcasting and music production.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">One more change: after a branding change to \u201cYR Media,\u201d the name of the organization will once again be Youth Radio.<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">\u201cWe\u2019ve gone back to the original brand, as part of going back to our original self, I would say,\u201d McGovern said, \u201cand really reconnecting with what made Youth Radio great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"blocks-v1-Paragraph-__Paragraph__paragraph wp-block wp-block-paragraph container\" title=\"\">An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZ6NeXKGrSH\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">open house and information session<\/a> about Youth Radio takes place Friday, June 26, where potential applicants can meet instructors and learn about the programs on offer. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DZ6NeXKGrSH\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Details on the orientation here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nonprofit, which shuttered in 2024, will restart its hands-on media training for youth this week. Jun 23,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372229,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-372228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}