Eagle

Hello Eagle, Colorado! We’ve never met you, but we’d like to. We’re Jen and Mary, and we’re a pair of journalists on our way out west.

We’re coming to Eagle to do a project on something worth talking about. Not disasters or epidemics or shootings, but something we think matters. What could this be, you ask? What news is worth telling in an age where we can barely keep up as it is?

It’s simple. We want to know how young people and technology mix in Eagle. Call them the Net Generation, Generation Y, the Millenials, whatever you like —  we want to meet them. The 13-year-old doing inspiring things on Facebook, the 18-year-old leaving her cell phone behind for a week in the wilderness, the college student teaching their grandma how to Google.

Their stories will be featured on www.theyoungandthewireless.com (yes, that’s a play on that wonderful mainstay of daytime television), and the slightly more reputable (but no more pithy) Patchwork Nation. They’ll sit beside stories by people from NPR and PBS. And who could expect anything but greatness from the people who brought us Sesame Street?

We’ll be arriving in Eagle on the 9th of June, and staying until the 22nd. During that time, we’ll be looking for the town’s most interesting stories on youth and technology — told or untold. So if you have a lead on a great story, leave a comment, or send us an email by clicking the “contact us” link.

We can’t wait!

For more information on what exactly we’ll be doing, please visit the Syracuse University description of the project, the News21 blog, or any of the aforementioned sites.

cartoon by Jerry King