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Unleashing the Potential of Citizen Witnesses
With more witnesses from more regions equipped to document their communities, how can we in the human rights, media, and technology fields help realize the potential of citizen reporters?
April 3, 2013
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Progress for Kenya through the Lens of a Camera
Having kept peace throughout the 2013 presidential elections, Kenyans look forward. Bukeni Waruzi explains the current situation, and how incorporating video can help to resolve remaining tensions.
March 25, 2013
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Not a Story About Him, but His Story
Filmmakers Madeleine Bair and Betty Bastidas did not want to produce another film about an at-risk teen. The only way to capture his life struggles was to involve the subject in the storytelling.
March 19, 2013
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International Women’s Day Sees Sparse Progress in Ending Impunity
On March 8th, the world celebrates International Women's Day. It's a somber celebration, though: despite progress in some areas, more must be done to end impunity for perpetrators of gender-based violence.
March 8, 2013
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Self-Preservation through Personal Digital Archiving
‘Personal digital archiving’ is a movement that helps individuals take control of their digital files. A WITNESS Archivist shares her insights from a national conference, outlining gaps and solutions for human rights defenders.
February 27, 2013
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Can Cell Phones Save Kenya’s Elections?
Across the country, pockets of Kenyans are determined to use video to protect their democracy during the March 4th elections. Bukeni Waruzi just returned from training these activists and citizen journalists, and here's what he taught.
February 23, 2013
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Citizen Video for Journalists: A New Blog Series
Citizen video takes journalists to inaccesible corners of the world, putting viewers on the scene long before news crews. In this bi-weekly series, news innovators explore tools, strategies, and ethics of using citizen video to report the news.
February 11, 2013
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Land rights violations in India meet continued resistance
In the dark hours of the night, police forcefully entered two Indian villages, in the name of "development". 6 people were seriously injured; 50 were arbitrarily detained; and 1 was arrested. Here's what we can do.
February 8, 2013
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Is This For Real? How InformaCam Improves Verification of Mobile Media Files
There is currently a deluge of media coming from the world’s mobile devices for potential use as evidence or trusted sources for journalists. WITNESS and the Guardian Project are working to provide a mechanism, InformaCam, to verify and authenticate this footage.
January 15, 2013
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From Syria to Burma: 2012 in Citizen Human Rights Video
Only six words accompany the video. But they are just enough background needed for the one minute and seven seconds it depicts: “ROHINGYA MUSLIM VILLAGE IN ANDI VILLAGE 2.”
December 28, 2012
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Stand with our Youth: Write to President Obama and Ask for a Climate Recovery Plan
Children share a future threatened by climate change, and many have found ways to make their voices heard. The youth of the TRUST Campaign have told their stories in a remarkable series of short videos, and they’ve taken action in the court.
December 20, 2012
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Videos Highlight Progress and Challenges During 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
It’s a time when activists rally around the issue of gender-based violence. We challenge the power structures, perceptions and impunity that allow gender-based violence to persist, call for concrete actions to address these issues at the local, national and global levels, and demand accountability for perpetrators of this crime, along with justice and assistance for those who experience it.
November 26, 2012
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Is it Authentic? When Citizens and Soldiers Document War
On November 1, a particular video caught not only our attention at the Human Rights Channel, but also that of international observers, news outlets, and criminal prosecutors. It’s the type of video whose images have altered the discussion of the Syrian conflict, and may also revolutionize the role of citizen video in times of war.
November 20, 2012
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16-year-old Climate Advocate Speaks Out on Hurricane Sandy
16-year-old Maya Faison from Queens, New York recently shared her thoughts on Hurricane Sandy and climate change in an article published by Climate Progress. Maya wrote the article on her sixth day without heat, her sixth day without power, and her sixth day with no gas in her mom’s car to escape. What troubled me most in what she shared is this: “I feel let down and disappointed that it’s taken a major storm that has taken over 40 lives and counting for my elected leaders to acknowledge the reality of climate change.”
November 12, 2012
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Forced Evictions Activist To Be Honored by U.S. Secretary of State Clinton
The Global Leadership Awards honor and celebrate women leaders around the world who are the unsung heroines working to strengthen democracy, increase economic opportunity, and protect human rights. The awards were established by the organization Vital Voices Global Partnership, which Secretary Clinton co-founded in 1997. Tep Vanny joins a very distinguished group of internationally recognized women. The award ceremony will take place in April 2013 in Washington, D.C.
November 5, 2012
