Internews

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Internews Network is an international non-profit organization that works to improve access to information for people around the world by fostering independent media and promoting open communications policies in the public interest. Internews’ programs are built on the conviction that providing people with access to vibrant, diverse news and information empowers them to participate effectively in their communities, effect positive social change, improve their living standards, and make their voices heard.

Formed in 1982, Internews Network, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in California. It is a founding member of Internews International, whose members have worked in 70 countries worldwide, spanning Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.

Internews currently has offices and/or implements projects in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Macedonia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinian Authority, Russia, Rwanda, Serbia & Montenegro, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor Leste, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

Since inception, Internews has worked with 4,300 radio and television stations and print publications. Internews activities include:

Training. Internews trains over 9,000 media professionals each year in journalism, production, and management. For more advanced students, Internews offers training in topics such as computer graphics, media law, and investigative journalism.

Production. To strengthen the independent media sector, Internews works with local media professionals to produce original, high-quality programming. In 2005 this came to 5600 hours of television and radio programming, with a combined potential audience of nearly 400 million radio listeners and over 380 million TV viewers.

Media infrastructure. Internews provides a broad range of infrastructure support to enable independent media to provide vital news and information, including providing journalists and stations with production equipment, creating production studios, and building radio stations from the ground up.

Media law and policy. To allow independent media to fulfill their “watchdog” function, Internews has worked for the adoption and implementation of fair media laws and policies in 21 countries.

As part of its work fostering independent media and access to information, Internews has developed special global programs in health journalism, environmental journalism, humanitarian media, information and communications technology, and governance and transparency.

Internews Network is primarily supported by grants. Funders have included the AOL-Time Warner Foundation, the Beagle Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Gregory C. Carr Foundation, the Coxe-Otus Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the GE Foundation, the Government of the Netherlands, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the National Endowment for Democracy, the National Science Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the RealNetworks Foundation, Rockefeller Financial Services, the United Nations Development Programme, the US Agency for International Development, the US Department of State, the Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Foundation, and many others.

In April 2007 Russian police raided the office of the Educated Media Foundation, a section of Internews which trains journalists and fosters an independent media, as part of an investigation into its president, Manana Aslamazyan, who was accused of bringing too much cash into Russia from a visit to France^[1].

[edit] Internews Pakistan

Internews Pakistan

Internews Pakistan is training radio journalists and station managers in the standards and practices of professional journalism and assisting journalism curriculum development. It is also lobbying for media law and policy development all aimed at fostering a vigorous and diverse mass media as an essential cornerstone of a progressive society.

Internews Network is implementing a media assistance program in Pakistan, supporting the fledgling non-government radio stations and other media-representative bodies with technical, editorial and management training.

Goals:

Internews recognizes the efforts of the Government of Pakistan in opening up the broadcast media sector in particular and looks to strengthening this endeavor.

Internews will engage key non-government media being built and strengthened so they may fulfill their new role as alternative voices in a country that is experiencing an open and plural media in the broadcast sector for the first time in its history.

The overall goal of the Internews program is to ensure skilled, independent and financially viable media outlets exist, particularly in the broadcast sector, and are able to provide citizens of Pakistan with quality information and education programs.

Internews assists the Pakistani broadcast media to serve as a principal conduit for dialogue, as the people increasingly seek to communicate with their local, provincial and national leaderships

On its own and in collaboration with selected partners in Pakistan, Internews seeks to strengthen the technical competence of targeted media institutions to ensure their long-term sustainability through its program.

The Pakistani broadcast sector, especially the private sector radio stations that have been issued licenses to operate, face the challenge of standardizing skills and strengthening their capacities to function effectively in the improving broadcast media environment.

Challenges:

Key challenges to a successful broadcast media in Pakistan include:

A lack of technical know-how and equipment maintenance skills Establishing and maintaining economic viability Exercising their rights and responsibilities as decreed in the constitution and law Practicing accurate and balanced analytical reporting Reporting on the parliament to promote good governance Building capacities to report events and processes at the local level.

Activities:

Internews is implementing a number of activities that will meet these urgent needs and is assisting the building of a viable independent media as Pakistan progresses in opening up its broadcast sector.

Internews activities that seek to address these challenges in Pakistan include:

Technical support and hands-on training for journalists and radio stations. In-house mentoring for radio stations by international experts. Seminars and support for community radio. Legal resource assistance to the stakeholders, including the broadcast sector regulator, in improving the broadcast media environment. Technical and legal assistance to stakeholders in media policy development.

Through these undertakings, Internews will be playing an important role in helping improve the regulatory environment and the media broadcast sector in Pakistan.

Internews is an international organization that operates in about 40 countries to promote open media worldwide.