The Deputy Editors of the Mighty Post, a blogging site for Philadelphia’s youth that launched in early February, arrive at their headquarters in South Street, a Mecca of shops and eateries, for their weekly Monday meetings.
They begin brainstorming ideas to write for future posts. Prom, politics, and education are only a few topics that these young journalists choose to voice their concerns about.
“I think this goes for everyone,” Matt Rinaldi, 17 said. “I want to write about something that I’m interested in. I mean it’s kind of hard to write about something that you’re not interested in or you don’t have a lot to say about.”
Rinaldi, a student at Science and Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, first heard about The Mighty Post from his English teacher who thought he would be a good fit for the online publication.
His beat at the Mighty Post revolves around covering news concerning technology and video games, two topics that he is most passionate about.
“Of course I look towards video games because I want to enjoy what I do for the rest of my life,” he said. “I thought about it more on the career aspect when I do it. It seems like a great job to just be a video-game journalist.”
Rinaldi said it was only recently he found an interest in writing. After joining the Mighty Post, he found that he was a pretty decent writer.
“I guess video games is just one of those topics where I have a lot to talk about,” he said.
The Mighty Post is a publication of the Philadelphia nonprofit, Mighty Writers, where the goal is to teach Philadelphia youth how “to think and write with clarity, so self-esteem grows and success is achieved at school, at work and in life.”
