Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
L.A. Youth newspapers and records
LSC.2297
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: L.A. Youth newspapers and records
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.2297
Physical Description:
4.2 Linear Feet
(1 box, 7 flat boxes, 5 CD boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1989-2013
Abstract: This collection documents the publications, copyright agreements, digital archives, and release forms of the independent student-written
publication L.A. Youth, which ran from 1989 to 2013. It was the largest teen-run newspaper in the United States, and became
known for tackling controversial topics like gang violence, mental illness, teen homelessness, and partner abuse.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are primarily in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Condtions on Use and Reproduction
Copyright to portions of this collection has been assigned to the UCLA Library Special Collections. The library can grant
permission to publish for materials to which it holds the copyright. All requests for permission to publish must be submitted
in writing to Library Special Collections. Credit shall be given as follows: The Regents of the University of California on
behalf of the UCLA Library Special Collections.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS DIGITAL MATERIALS: This collection contains processed digital materials. All requests to access digital materials
must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
Gift of Youth News Service, dba L.A. Youth, 2015.
[Identification of item], L.A. Youth Newspapers and Records (Collection 2297). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E.
Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Processed by Melanie Jones in 2016 in the
Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT) under the supervision of Courtney Dean.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating
existing description of our materials that contains language
that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they
could be described more accurately, by filling out the form
located on our website:
Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special
Collections.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9979898633606533
L.A. Youth was an independent, city-wide, teen-written newspaper that ran for 25 years, from 1988 to 2013. It was created
by former teacher Donna Myrow in response to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which
empowered school administrators to control the content of school publications.
By 2002, L.A. Youth had an estimated readership of 350,000, making it the largest teen independent newspaper in the United
States. The newspaper, published every two months, was distributed for free to teachers in public, private, and charter schools,
community-based youth programs, and libraries, as well as centers for juvenile justice and foster care. The paper was also
sent abroad to students in China, France, and Africa.
In 2003, L.A. Youth's Foster Youth Writing and Education Project expanded its staff of writers to youth in foster care and
probation systems. As a tax-exempt non-profit, L.A. Youth partnered with organizations to fund their magazine and promote
awareness on issues like destigmatizing mental illness and advocating green living. Issues tackled subjects as wide-ranging
as homelessness, gang violence, suicide, sex education, electoral politics, educational reform, immigration, and homophobia.
From 2002-2005, eight L.A. Youth students were recognized at the Los Angeles Times High School Journalism Awards, and L.A.
Youth stories were reprinted in the Los Angeles Times (who provided major funding for printing costs) and The New York Times,
as well as adapted for NPR. Alums went on to work at the Baltimore Sun, the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, Newsweek,
and the Chicago Reporter, among other top publications.
California's financial crisis and the 2008 recession hurt L.A. Youth's funding, and the newspaper closed shortly after publishing
its 25th anniversary issue. Their sister publication in New York, Represent Magazine, is still running.
This collection documents the writings of the independent student-written publication L.A. Youth, which ran for 25 years before
closing operations in 2013. By 2002, it had an estimated readership of 350,000, distributed for free to teachers in public,
private, and charter schools, community-based youth programs, and libraries, as well as centers for juvenile justice and foster
care. In addition to print issues and a digital archive, the collection contains a guide to student journalism, copyright
forms, and release form by writers' parents and juvenile courts.
Materials are largely textual, comprising print issues of the publication and copyright and court release forms. Among other
formats are CDs and DVDs.
Some significant topics represented in these files are: gun violence, poverty, homelessness, mental illness, religious intolerance,
immigration, racism, police brutality, homophobia, domestic abuse and partner violence, sexual assault, gang warfare, addiction,
the foster care system, school shootings, weight issues, self-harm, school censorship, environmental activism, affirmative
action, and student employment.
This collection has been arranged in the following series:
- Series 1: Print Issues (1989-2013)
- Series 2: Digital Archives and Production Files (1996-2013)
- Series 3: Copyright and Release Agreements (1998-2013)
The collection's series have been organized by publication date or subject name.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Student newspapers and periodicals