SLB Radio Productions, Inc. (The Saturday Light Brigade)

SLB Radio Productions, Inc.

Students work with caring, experienced mentors (i) within our $250,000 digital radio and recording studio housed within the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and/or (ii) at schools or community centers to which we bring an array of high-quality portable equipment.

SLB began pursuing its mission in 1978 with The Saturday Light Brigade, a Saturday morning public radio program that blends acoustic music, live performances by youth and adults, participatory puzzles, on-air telephone calls, and interviews with other community-based nonprofits serving youth and families. Programming grew substantially between 1990 and 2000, as SLB built a strong and loyal audience, winning 10 local, state and national awards. SLB launched a website in 1993 and, in 1996, created a printed newsletter of puzzles and games for families with a circulation of 10,000. The program scope expanded again in 1996, when SLB began conducting technical and self-expression workshops for children and youth from 8 to 18 years of age.

In 2004, with support from the broadcast industry, foundations, corporations and individual donors, SLB opened a $250,000 broadcast studio and training complex in the expanded Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. SLB has since emerged as a hub of community and educational activity. Our work today focuses on (1) continued production of The Saturday Light Brigade radio program and its extension as a vehicle to promote youth voice in our region and (2) school and in-studio workshops in which experienced radio broadcasters and sound engineers work with children to explore self-expression as well as the tools used to collect and process audio into a creative work.

Sample projects include:
-- The Green compass: Teens interview people working to improve the environment and produce an NPR-style feature for regional broadcast.
-- Allegheny Voices: Teens interview elders (typically 80 to 90 years old) and produce a clear edited oral history of the interviewee.
-- It's Cool to Care: Children ages 7 to 11 identify social issues of concern, learn about agencies working to address them, and voice public service announcements for these agencies
-- Radio Theater: Creation and recording of an original radio drama or comedy.
-- GirlTalk Radio: Girls ages 11 to 14 interview women with outstanding careers in science, math or engineering to yield an NPR-style documentary.

SLB professional staff work with school/program staff to ensure that we fit within the organization's established systems.

Activities range from one-time hands-on exploration of microphones, mixers and digital audio tools to multi-week projects focused on self-expression, digital audio recording and editing, interviewing, community engagement and oral history.

SLB develops and conducts off-air workshops for schools, scout and youth groups as well as after-school programs.   Serving approximately 2,000 youth per year, SLB is committed to providing effective and engaging radio- and audio-based programming for children and youth ages 5-18.

SLB has developed and conducted hundreds of youth radio projects including: (1) technical and self-expression workshops; (2) reflective essay writing and recording workshops; (3) youth broadcast, podcast and CD projects; (4) career exploration; (5) oral history; and (6) youth philanthropy.  With its expanded facilities, field equipment and new technologies SLB serves more than 2,000 children and youth annually. Many of the youth media projects produced by SLB workshop participants have been broadcast as well as archived at www.neighborhoodvoices.org, an SLB website designed for rapid on-demand playback and download of community-based audio.

We believe in collaborating with others and maintain www.youthmediaresources.org as an educational tool for the community.  Designed to catalog programs and tools, encourage youth expression and explore the impact of media and technology on youth, the new site has emerged as a resource for practitioners, funders and educators committed to supporting a community around empowering and educating youth audiences.