News Archives

[Video] Interview with Felipe Vaz from Instituto Overmundo

Felipe Vaz is the coordinator of Instituto Overmundo, which promotes access to knowledge and cultural diversity in Brazil through innovative practices in communication, intellectual property, and technology. Felipe describes Brazil's "LAN house revolution."

Ceasefire Liberia: In Action With Blogs And Videos

The Rising Voices Grantee Ceasefire Liberia had a remarkable time last month. Apart from publishing dozens of new blog posts and several videos by bloggers, the project is getting noticed too.

[Video] Interview with Vanessa Mazal

Vanessa Mazal is a program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Global Development Program. In this interview she talks about the differences and complementary nature of media development and media for development. She also tells us about a new Gates Foundation initiative in partnership with Highway Africa.

[Video] Interview with David Hoffman of Internews

David Hoffman is the founder and president of Internews, one of the first media development organizations. In this video David explains how Internews got its start by coordinating a two-way satellite link-up between Soviet youth in Moscow and Americans at the 1982 US Festival sponsored by Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak. He goes on to describe more of the history of the media development field, how funders can both help and hurt, and the role of citizen journalism in media development and civic participation.

Drop-In Center: The Anti-Methadone Backlash

Pavel Kutsev, a leader of the harm reduction movement in Ukraine, writes about a war against substitution therapy programs, which includes banning methadone programs in municipal hospitals, anti-methadone campaigns in the mass media and police searches of methadone sites.

[Video] Interview with Ramsey Tesdell of 7iber.com

Ramsey Tesdell is the founder of 7iber.com, a citizen journalism community and training project based in Amman, Jordan. We met up with him at the Strengthening Independent Media program in Austria, which aims to map the new era of international media development. Ramsey explains the goals and activities of 7iber, his latest training efforts in Gaza, and the current state of donor investment in participatory media projects.

Blogging the Dream: Mental Health and Healthy Communities

Here in Câmpulung Moldovenesc, a small city in northeastern Romania along the banks of the Moldova River, a group of inspiring activists would rather focus on their mental health than mental illness. They advocate for a community-based approach which integrates mental health service users into society, rather than the usual segregation and stigmatization. "Be interested and understanding with your neighbor," the homepage of their website declares, "do not ignore him, do not fear him, help."

Abidjan Blog Camps: The First Workshop

The Rising Voices Grantee Abidjan Blog Camps started its first citizen media training program this month. A training session on 'Journalism and e-blogging' was held at the Press House of Abidjan. Ten journalists from various Ivorian media participated.

Malagasy Blogger Reflects Upon Climate Change Conference and G20 Summit

Sept, 27th marked the end of a busy week-long journey for Malagasy blogger and Foko coordinator Stephane, a.k.a pakysse. Stephane took off from Antananarivo, Madagascar on the 21st and landed in JFK, NYC on the 22nd for the Climate Change Conference in New York City at the United Nations Headquarters and the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.

Nomad Green: Environmental Activism

A number of workshops were held by the Rising Voices grantee Nomad Green in September 2009. Thanks to the passionate translators like Azaa, Ariungerel, Tungaa, and Odnoo, many articles have already been translated from Mongolian into English and was featured in the Nomad Green site.