Pittsburgh-based iGeneration Youth magazine gives teens a global voice

As a little girl, Caroline Molin of Squirrel Hill knew she wanted to be a writer.

“I’ve been interested in writing all of my life, even from before kindergarten when I could barely read,” says Caroline, a 17-year-old senior at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts High School. “As soon as I started reading books, I knew I wanted to write them as well.”

Her literary repertoire has grown to include novels, creative non-fiction, poetry, and journalism. “I even enjoy writing English essays for school,” she says.

Today, Caroline is gaining experience as a co-editor-in-chief of iGeneration Youth magazine, a monthly print publication with a global focus. The Pittsburgh-produced magazine is written by and for young people, with world-wide contributions from teen writers, photographers, illustrators, comic artists, and entrepreneurs.

The inaugural issue followed a six-week summer Byline Boot Camp, where students learned to plan, produce, publish, promote, and distribute a print magazine on deadline.

With offices in Bakery Square, iGeneration Youth is led by a team of veteran journalists, designers, and content strategists headed by Lori Cullen of Highland Park, global editorial director.

Cullen, a freelance writer and editor, moved to the US from Great Britain with her family in 1979 at age 10. As an immigrant of British and Jamaican heritage, she is committed to including immigrant teens in the iGeneration Youth program, as well as kids who are isolated or marginalized.

“We work with youths from across the country and around the globe via telephone, Skype or the internet,” Cullen says. “For example, teens in England, three African countries, and nine states, as well as Pittsburgh, produced the November issue. Their accounts are refreshingly honest – teens don’t approach topics the way adults might think.”

Ali Mugasa, 17, of Sharpsburg, a senior at Fox Chapel Area High School, is a co-editor-in-chief, writer, and illustrator at iGeneration Youth. He was born in a refugee camp in Kenya, Africa – where groups fled from ethnic persecution and civil war in Somalia – and moved to Pittsburgh in 2004 with his parents and two brothers.

“My life goal is to be an inspiration to my fellow Somali Bantu people,” Ali says

To Caroline, iGeneration Youth is an opportunity for young people to tell stories that aren’t seen every day in the mainstream media, in articles that represent the diversity of their generation.

“We write about our experiences that the big political leaders don’t always want people to know,” she says. “Our last issue had an article about transgender teenagers and their experiences. … We told stories about Islam. And in an environment where people openly assume the worst of people because of their faith, telling the world our positive experiences with Islam is seen as controversial. Getting our stories out there is important, now more than ever.”

With the first issue under their belts, the young writers and artists are looking forward to their next deadlines.

“Writing for a monthly publication isn’t a small feat, and when I hold the November edition of iGeneration Youth magazine in my hands, I feel an incredible sense of pride. The people that are always looked down upon – our youth – are preparing our greatest work to show the entire city,” Caroline says. “I’m constantly learning how capable we all are of achieving things that we worked hard for.”

Emily Flores, 15, of Austin, Texas, wrote her cover story on young people with disabilities. Confined to a wheelchair by muscular dystrophy, her interest in reading and writing led her to share her experiences on different platforms to empower disabled youth.

Emily was the perfect choice to write about the ABC show, “Speechless,” which stars Micah Fowler, who has cerebral palsy. She interviewed Fowler for her article, “not only because he was a big star from a hit show, but also a person who was becoming a polarizing role model to the disability community. His show was paving the way for actors and performers with disabilities, which I knew was going to impact the whole world in a great way.”

iGeneration Youth offers several program options for teens, requiring various levels of commitment and skill – ranging from pitching an article or artwork for publication to taking classes online, at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, or the magazine’s Bakery Square office. Four- or eight-week classes in writing, illustration, photography, comic arts, or 2-D animation are offered. Middle school students ages 10 to 13 may work on the middle school version of the magazine.

iGeneration Youth’s incubator program is a small, competitive program in which a select group of Pittsburgh teen writers, photographers, illustrators, comics artists, and animators undergo rigorous, hands-on training in magazine production and the business of journalism. There is a monthly fee for this program, but limited need-based and merit scholarships are offered.