THE GLOBALGIRL MEDIA OVERVIEW “This is Our World, and My Voice” www.globalgirlmedia.org
1. MISSION STATEMENT
GlobalGirl Media (GGM) develops the voice and media literacy of teenage girls and young women in under-served communities by teaching them to create and share digital journalism designed to ignite community activism and social change. Through mentoring, training and access to a worldwide network of online distribution partners, GlobalGirl Media harnesses the power of new digital media to empower young women to bring their often-overlooked perspectives onto the global media stage.
GlobalGirl Media’s model is unique in that it pairs GlobalGirl news bureaus in U.S. cities with bureaus in international cities, creating a peer-to-peer global online network of girls. As of June 2012, GlobalGirl Media has implemented initiatives in seven cities in South Africa, Morocco and the United States, training more than 120 girls and young women, who have produced 125 video features using traditional camera and sound; 85 mobile journalism pieces on I-pod touch devices; and 180 blog reports that were distributed through trans-media platforms, predominantly online, but also including print, broadcast TV and cable, cell phones, radio and social media.
2. OUR MODEL
GlobalGirl Media partners with local non-profit and educational organizations to provide a rigorous, four-week program of education and training in new digital media and citizen journalism to groups of 15 to 20 girls, ages 16-21, who are selected in partnership with local NGOs and/or educational institutions.
Instructed by seasoned media professionals, the girls first learn the fundamentals of journalism: identifying and telling a story; journalism ethics, using a camera, sound and technical equipment; digital/mobile story-telling; and social media as a tool for development. The course then focuses on hands-on training in the new media space, sending the girls to cover actual events in their communities and to find stories in the field. With many of the girls coming from marginalized communities with few opportunities for education and self-improvement, the GlobalGirl curriculum also integrates the development of leadership skills and self-esteem.
By the end of the training session, each GlobalGirl reporter has developed and produced unique, short-form news blogs, vlogs and new media content on a wide range of social, cultural and financial topics and has disseminated them through GlobalGirl Media’s website and social-media platforms. GlobalGirls are trained to select their own subject matter and they tend to focus on issues of particular relevance to their lives, such as violence against girls and women; sexuality, reproductive rights and HIV/AIDS; gender- based discrimination; education, the arts and sports; and new media and technology.
Visits by leading women professionals in print, broadcast and new media are incorporated into the curriculum. Many of the lecturers also act as “Media Mentors” who track the progress of GlobalGirls and offer ongoing counseling and support. Each training includes field trips to local newspapers, radio and television stations.
Emphasizing process over product, GlobalGirl Media uses journalism as a development tool to empower teenage girls and to bring much-needed local and global media attention to the issues, experiences and challenges that define their lives.
Immediately following the four-week GlobalGirl Academy training sessions, GGM works with our local partners to sustain and run a GlobalGirl Media Bureau where GlobalGirl Academy graduates, under the supervision of their Media Mentors, can continue to produce and file stories focused on specific “beats.”
All cameras, computers and supplementary equipment used in the GlobalGirl Academy remain permanently in the community and country where the training takes place. GGM, along with its community partners and mentors, works to get internship opportunities for the graduates at partner broadcasters and media organizations.
3. GGM DISTRIBUTION, OUTREACH, AUDIENCE
GlobalGirl Media content is distributed primarily on http://www.globalgirlmedia.org, the primary purpose of which is to share the stories created by GlobalGirls and provide an online community by, for and about girls. A redesigned website was launched in July 2012, providing improved access to and interaction with GGM content, which will be curated and presented based on breaking news and thematic areas such as politics, health and environment, women’s rights, and arts and culture.
We engage our audience in multiple ways, through outreach, stakeholders, newsletters, website membership, and social media. We have a GlobalGirl Media YouTube channel and a strong social media campaign incorporating Facebook (2,585 members) Twitter (3,085 followers), Pinterest and LinkedIn. We also maintain active accounts on Vimeo, Tumblr, Blogspot, and Flickr.
GlobalGirl reports are primarily distributed online, and we are cultivating a growing network of digital media partners who have featured our stories. A partial list includes:
Internet: Girl Up!, Huffington Post, Internews.org, Democracy Now, Fast Company, GritTV, International Womens Media Foundation, Womens Media Center, Worldpulse.org, Girleffect.org, the Op Ed Project, Women Make Movies, Witness.org, International Women’s Museum, ITC/Drumbeat, AF24, espn.com, Fanatchiks.com, Geena Davis Institute, Gender without Borders, Global Fund for Women, Global Press Institute, Hess Press, Morocco, Latina Lista, Women of the World, Women’s View on the News, ShiTizen Journalist, Voices for Umoja, SoulBeat, Self Magazine, Seventeen Magazine, Takepart.org, Girlsinc.org, Miss Ceo, I Am That Girl.
Stories and short documentaries about the GlobalGirl project have also been featured as “news stories” on various broadcast networks, although this is not our primary focus.
Broadcast: Al Jazeera English, BBC Radio, CBC Radio, ESPN, ESPN Brazil, KPFK/ Los Angeles, Latino Public Broadcasting, PBS-KCET, South African Broadcast Network, SuperSports Channel, MNET, SABC2 South Africa, and UNIVISION.
GlobalGirl Media also packages content developed by GlobalGirls and distributes it on the community level, such as through schools and local organizations, and internationally at conferences and symposia.
4. RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS: GlobalGirl Media currently maintains news bureaus in Soweto, South Africa; Rabat, Fes, Marrakech, Casablanca and Ouarzazate, Morroco; East and South Central Los Angeles; and Chicago. Some recent activities:
1. LA Bureau is producing “COMO AMAR,” How to Love, a 6-part webisode series on Reproductive Rights for Latino Public Broadcasting 2. GGM’s team of HIV-positive reporters from Soweto were granted full press credentials and traveled to Washington, D.C. for the July 2012 World AIDS Conference. 3. Moroccan GGM Team organized a mass protest in front of Parliament for Amina, a young woman forced to marry her rapist, and their organization, Woman Choufouch was featured in the NY Times. 4. GGM Reporters Rocio from LA and Tebogo from South Africa participated in the International Women's Media Foundation Leaders Conference in Washington D.C. Rocio was later selected as the UN’s GIRL UP! Teen Advisor for 2012. 5. First Lady Michelle Obama met with one of the GlobalGirls in South Africa, and wrote about her on the White House blog as an example of how supporting young womens' education can transform a community. 6. Ambassador Melanne Verveer, head of the Global Women's Issues Office in the State Department recently met our reporters at the International Women's Media Leadership Conference in D.C. and was so excited she blogged about us, and we are featured on their webpage: http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/ 7. In 2011, SA and LA Reporters covered the Sundance Film Festival, interviewing Danny Glover, Robert Redford, Gloria Steinem and Geena Davis, among others.
LINKS TO TOP PRESS ON GGM:
Take Part.org: http://tinyurl.com/8a5pxmu Fast Company: http://tinyurl.com/6gssrp2 The Times South Africa: http://tinyurl.com/4u9oz4j Huffington Post: http://tinyurl.com/bunlmak NBC Chicago: http://tinyurl.com/9swvfux MSNBC: http://tinyurl.com/brq8bbb Maghress (Morocco): http://tinyurl.com/7nchr9v ABC: http://tinyurl.com/chdpysp
5. MEASURABLES
While many digital news training programs and sites produce great content, they stop short of really activating their audience, finding out how that content influences and shapes lives. We at GGM are especially interested in how our stories are impacting both the girls and their communities.
GlobalGirl Media tracks its success and achievements through many indicators, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We assess our GlobalGirl participants before, during and post-training, and we follow-up with questionaires and face-to-face interviews through our mentorship program. In addition, we collect and analyze data from our website and social media sites, through popular engagement metrics such as Chartbeat, Facebook Insights, GetClicky, etc.
We are currently developing a more robust evaluation program from our new Chicago project (which launched in July, 2012) to include more long-term evaluations of our participants, tracking such measurables as girls’ grades, motivation, family relationships, etc. before and after their participation in our program. We also are dedicated to assessing how our videos and blogs are changing/shaping our youth viewers, and are presently designing an in-depth evaluation that will provide a better picture of how our audience goes from users to investors, in terms of both social capitols and/or as content contributors, volunteers, commentators, donors, or subscribers.
6. FUTURE DEVELOPMENT: “A THINKING GIRLS’ GLOBAL YOUTUBE”
At present, GlobalGirl Media is an education-based non-profit organization, focused primarily on training rather than distribution. While news videos and blogs are produced on a regular basis, our emphasis is on teaching girls practical skills that will provide them with new economic and career opportunities in digital media.
GGM does already have a YouTube Channel, but has done little to realy promote it. Encouraged by the explosive growth in broadband TV and broadband producers (100% growth in the last 12 months to become a 6 billion dollar industry) GGM intends to expand from its current model to create a full-service broadband distribution channel – a “thinking girls” global YouTube” -- that not only features work produced by GlobalGIrl Media reporters, but also includes news stories about issues pertinent to young women. The content will be a combination of shorter and longer form video news pieces, blogs, photographs, cellphone and Ipad apps, text campaigns and interactive contests and games, all designed to stimulate discussion and critical engagement in current world affairs.
The GlobalGirl channel will investigate what it means to be a girl today, streaming online news content by, for and about girls. The focus will be on current affairs, breaking news and community-based human interest stories rather than entertainment or social media (personal) content. Expanding on the website’s current themes, the new channel will have various portals devoted to such topics as Girls and the Economy (financial literacy); Girl and Games (sports); Girls and the Earth, Nature and the Environment; Girls and Health; and Girls and Technology.
The GGM channel will also include an online version of the GlobalGirl Media training curriculum so that girls can learn to produce digital journalism which can be distributed on the site. Reporters will also have the capability of working virtually with girls in other cities or countries to create videos, blogs and campaigns around their work. Games, animations, contests and other content will round out the channel, in keeping with what is current and popular for this demographic.
This multi-platform online community will improve the news literacy of girls, providing a place for the sharing of perspectives and voices largely excluded from traditional, male- dominated media outlets. Through participation in this community, girls and young women will develop the confidence and skills to move beyond sharing their stories to taking action and effecting change in themselves and their communities. The GlobalGirl Media channel seeks to change the current media landscape to ensure that women have equal voice, participation and leadership in management, decision-making, authorship and ownership.
This model will enable GlobalGirl Media to move beyond its current philanthropic support and seek support through social media innovation funds, investors and venture capital. Additional revenue will be built up through three main areas:
1. Subscription sevices (selling selected content to news outlets and distributors) 2. Advertising and corporate sponsorship 3. GlobalGirl Merchandise (selling T-shirts, hats, notebooks, pens) 4. Media training services (available to corporations, universities, schools and individuals)
7. WHO IS BEHIND GLOBALGIRL MEDIA?
A. STAFF AND LEADERSHIP GGM is helmed by a dynamic group of uniquely qualified individuals. Executive and Advisory Board members collectively represent stellar accomplishments in the media field. Co-founder & Executive Director Amie Williams is an award-winning filmmaker with 20 years experience in overseas/development work and independent filmmaking. She was a MacArthur Foundation International Peace Grant recipient in 1991. Co- founder Meena Nanji is a Rockefeller Fellow and Muslim American, best known for her PBS film, View From A Grain of Sand, about Afghan women refugees. Therese Steiner, President and Founding Partner, has worked extensively with women in media empowerment and is a consultant with global media and entertainment companies.
At present, all three principles are volunteering their time to build the organization and are working with the Board of Directors to raise funds for a full-time Executive Director, Development Director and Financial Officer salary.
One fulltime position is paid: Office Administrator Kate Mason, a recent graduate of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.
B. EXECUTIVE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Board Chair: Bronwyn Cornelius; Vice-Chair: Therese Steiner; Secretary: Meena Nanji; Treasurer: Amie Williams. Members: Karen Dukess, Communications Strategist & Journalist; Jodie Evans, Founder, CodePink; Susan Moran, Lawyer/Consultant; Heather Gates-Massoudi, CPA, Deloitte.
C. ADVISORY BOARD Gina Angelone, Producer/Writer; Maria Burton, Five Sisters Productions; Mandalit del Barco, Reporter, NPR Radio; Lorna Chiu, Doctors Without Borders; Laura Flanders, GritTV.com; Julie Foudy, Former U.S. Women’s Soccer Team, Sportscaster, ESPN; David Theo Goldberg, Director, UC Humanities Institute; Tracy Gray, L.A. Mayor’s Office; Brett Hawkins, Entrepreneur Technology & finance; Cristi Hegranes, Global Press Institute; Charita Johnson, VP, Content Integration, ESPN; Debra Kaufman, New Media Journalist, Mobilizedtv.com; Tobie Loomis, Co-Chair WIF PSA Production Program, Writer/Director/Producer; Kamala Lopez, Heroica Films; Arlene Nelson, Cinematographer, Full Nelson Films; Laurie Orlando, SVP Talent, ESPN; Frieda Orange, PMK; Carolyn Pilkington, Edelman NA; Gini Reticker, Executive Producer, Women, War and Peace (PBS); Meg Thompson, Filmmaker and Founder Arcane Pictures.
D. GGM GLOBAL CONSULTANTS
Tabby Biddle, Global Girls and Women’s Issues, Huffington Post Bridget Pickering, Producer, “Hotel Rwanda,” Owner Media Company, South Africa Asmaa Lemembart, Leading Feminist and Women’s Rights Scholar, Morocco Tammy Cheung, Visible Record, Documentary Filmmaker/Journalist, China Juan Devis, New Media Director, KCET, Public Television, Los Angeles Nancy Gallagher, Chair, Middle East Studies Program, Dept. of History, UC Santa Barbara Jean Garner, Executive Producer, WITNESS, Al Jazeera English Television Philo Ikonya, President PEN Chapter, Kenya, Human Rights Journalist Nomi Morris, Former Correspondent Knight-Ridder, Jerusalem, LA Times Contributor Mariam Memarsadegh, International Human Rights/Media Consultant, Iran, editor, tavaana.org Anne Nelson, Prof. New Media Studies, Columbia Center for Media and Development Alan Minsky, Director, KPFK/Pacifica Radio, Los Angeles Prof. Carla Yarborough, Broadcast Journalism and Media Studies, CalState Long Beach
E. GGM PROGRAM PARTNERS AND FUNDERS (Past and Present) SOUTH AFRICA: U.S. State Department, Public Affairs Office, PEPFAR, Nike Foundation, Girl Effect, ESPN, Bertha Foundation, Daphne Foundation, DocFactory, Kirsh Family Foundation, Catalyst Foundation, Ubuntu Foundation, Ekasi Women’s Arts Ensemble, Kids Haven, Olive Leaf Foundation, PUSH, Teboho Trust, Tshwane Home of Hope, Gauteng Film Commission, Johannesburg Rotarians
MOROCCO: U.S. State Department, Public Affairs Office; Youth and Governance Project, USAID, Morocco, Institute Specialise du Cinema et L’Audiovisuele, (ISCA) Rabat, Morocco
LOS ANGELES: Skirball Cultural Center and Museum, A Place Called Home; Salesian Boys and Girls Club, Miguel Contreras Learning Complex, Miguel Contreras Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Daphne Foundation, Black Dog Yoga, Latino Public Broad Broadcasting, National Endowment for the Arts
CHICAGO: Free Spirit Media, McCormick Foundation, William Keller Foundation, Took Trust, American Association of University Women, Chicago Community Trust, National Endowment for the Arts
Global Girl Media, 4203 Jackson Avenue, Culver City, CA 90232. 310.559.7065 Website: www.globalgirlmedia.org For additional information contact: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/globalgirlmedia Twitter: @globalgirlmedia