Amanda Berg: Newspaper Squad, 2014-2015

“I am lying raised up on one elbow wondering whether in any direction I can see beyond where you stop.”
John Berger, Field

Introduction by Amanda Berg

As a Lewis Hine Fellow with South Bronx United (SBU,) I facilitated a middle school newspaper club focused on collaborative and creative modes of community journalism. We self-published a printed paper that included event reporting, editorial writing, documentary photography, and non-fiction poetry. SBU is a Bronx, NY based non-profit that uses soccer as a tool for social change through activities on and off the soccer field. The newspaper club met once a week during after school tutoring. What began as a structured introduction to journalism, became a playful adventure in storytelling. I watched members explore their neighborhood with a sense of authority and wonder, and photographed informally alongside them as we played together. This exercise in simple observation brought us all closer.