In the September edition of The Maine Monitor Radio Hour, Maine Monitor summer reporting interns Stacey Zhang and Yasmeen Khan spoke about their experiences trying to make a career in the field of journalism and how their Gen Z colleagues are consuming the news.
Zhang spent the first weeks of her internship reporting on how a transitional housing program for Maine asylum seekers was preparing to close as the number of new arrivals dwindled and state funds dried up. Since 2022, more than 700 asylum seekers — people who have applied for asylum in the United States and are waiting to have their cases heard by a judge — have been housed at a hotel in Saco. At the time of her story in mid-July, organizations were assisting the remaining 29 families in finding housing.
She then looked at the Maine Space Corporation and its vision for the state’s budding space industry. The entity was created by the Maine Legislature in 2022 to position Maine as “a national and international destination and authority in launching small launch vehicles and small satellites into polar orbit.” MSC, in an attempt to avoid community pushback that has plagued other space companies in Maine, is working toward the launch of small rockets from platforms far out to sea.
Khan, meanwhile, centered her internship around reporting on domestic violence in Maine. In late June, she reported that resource centers for survivors of domestic violence froze hiring and operated understaffed in anticipation of funding shortfalls.
Because of a tight rental market, advocates told her for an early August story that they could meet only a fraction of the demand for emergency housing for domestic violence survivors, with only 14 percent of eligible clients receiving shelter statewide. A shortage of housing units, the rising cost of rent and constraints on federal low-income housing assistance programs, particularly Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, are compounding the issue.
In mid-August, Khan reported that Maine joined nearly a dozen other states around the country that have added “coercive control” to their definition of domestic abuse in civil code. The term refers to a range of nonphysical tactics that abusers use to alter their victim’s behavior, including stalking, intimidation and financial abuse.
You can listen to the episode here. Tune in to listen live the first Thursday of every month at 4 p.m. on WERU 89.9 FM.
