Broadcasting young voices: Podium.me

In a time when it seems young people are only in the news for the wrong reasons - stabbings, cyber bullying and binge drinking - here is something positive that will give you an insight into the thoughts of young people these days. And all from the horse’s mouth too, as the saying goes.Podium.me is a platform set up by Camilla Byk and Annabel Merrett where all the work is done by young people aged 25 and under. It was set up in the wake of the London riots in 2011. Camilla spoke to some teenagers who were part of the cleaning crew and one 15-year-old told her: “No-one cares about what we think; no-one really listens to us.” So a year later Podium.me was born and it is exactly that: somewhere they can get their voices listened to.And it’s not just young people listening in either. This is the place for you if you want to know what young people are thinking about and what issues affect them.It is a relatively new platform having only been set up in 2012, but has already made waves, having won a bronze award in the creative innovation category at the Radio Academy Awards 2014.Anyone can join the ‘Podium family’ and you don’t need to have any broadcasting experience. They’ll give you all the support and help you need and, who knows, your first piece of work for them might be retweeted more than 2.8 million times, like Stephen Matthew's piece on being a young Syrian refugee living in the UK.Hear from three members of the ‘Podium family’ in this podcast - Imogen Eason, Michaela Grant and Jamie Sommerville - on how they got involved and what each of their roles entail.