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The Human Cost of India’s Genetically Modified Agriculture
Director Micha X. Peled, in his dramatic film, Bitter Seeds, introduces us to citizens of a small Indian town who are dealing with the impacts of GMO seeds in their community. Bitter Seeds is a dire warning to us about the potentially devastating impacts on US agriculture due to GMO seeds. The film offers an intimate portrayal of the financial, family and social tolls these seeds have had on the farmers.
September 12, 2012
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Transforming Human Rights Reporting: Merging Mainstream News and Citizen Content
Human rights issues were never easily portrayed or understood in conventional news paradigms. Few news agencies can allocate sufficient resources to effectively depict these ongoing complex issues. Even with substantial budgets and protection, journalists often face life-threatening risks while reporting these stories.
September 5, 2012
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What Role Does the Arms Trade Play in Sexual Violence in Conflict?
Guns go hand in hand with sexual and gender-based violence. Where there is armed conflict, there is rape, and this is true the world over. So what is the significance of the presence of small arms in these conflicts? How do guns perpetuate a ‘cult of masculinity’ that finds women and girls as its victims? And how do these weapons end up in the hands of those prepared to intimidate and demean women?
August 23, 2012
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You Are Being Watched: What Faceprints Mean for Generation Y
On July 18, YouTube launched a new tool that would enable users to blur the faces in the videos they uploaded, thereby protecting the identities of people featured in them. The platform explicitly identified the human rights threat as a primary motivator for this online technological development.
August 21, 2012
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The Case for Justice: Why Transitional Justice Matters in Today’s World
Without accountability for massive human rights abuses, societies coming out of conflict or dictatorship have little chance of building sustainable peace. This is the main principle of transitional justice, a set of measures used to seek redress for legacies of mass atrocity or state repression. Focusing on situations in Egypt, Uganda, Colombia and the Congo, “The Case for Justice” illuminates the crucial, but often misunderstood process facing countries across the globe.
August 14, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Religious Persecution of the Baha’is in Iran
The short documentary series “Angels of Iran” strives to raise awareness about a minority group that is too often left out of history books and conversations. In each video, Iran’s Baha’is come forward to tell their own stories of persecution and oppression. The videos do not come in any set order, but “Faith and Sacrifice: The Baha’is in Iran” provides an effective introduction for those who know little about the Baha’i Faith. It offers a broad overview of the situation and introduces us to Iran’s Baha’is on a very personal level.
August 10, 2012
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Oral History as Storytelling: Sharing the Fabric of American Life
WITNESS and StoryCorps both recognize the value of personal stories in tackling larger issues. People are at the heart of each organization, anchoring the abstract in the human experience.
August 9, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Rwandan Women Tell Stories of Genocide’s Legacies
In Rwanda, between April and June of 1994, an estimated 800,000 Tutsis were killed in the span of just 100 days. Years after the brutal genocide, Intended Consequences revisits the country, asking the difficult question, how does a woman care for her child when it's the son or daughter of the man who raped her?
August 6, 2012
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Oral History and the Law: Boston College’s Woes
At WITNESS, the importance of negotiating informed consent within human rights video is paramount. By helping interviewees recognize the reach that their testimony may have in today's digital age, both intended and unforeseen consequences quickly become part of the greater conversation. Education is the key.
July 31, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Amnesty International’s Campaign for the Arms Trade Treaty
More than 740,000 people die every year as a result of armed conflict. Who fuels these conflicts? Which nations provide the arms and munitions that enable dictators, gangs, and human rights abusers to kill, rape, torture, and forcefully evict innocent civilians?
July 26, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Cultivating Compassion and Support for Iraqi Refugees
Last spring I interned for Righteous Pictures (RP) a film and new media production company that operates with two arms: content creation, which includes the creation and production of both feature and short films, and content engagement to enhance the overall impact of film projects.
July 24, 2012
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The (Virtual) Bystander Effect: Witnessing Human Rights Abuse Online
When a video goes viral, millions of people become witnesses. Whether it is a clumsy kitten, an adorable child, or a gruesome protest, we as viewers are transported to that moment. We see everything. We hear everything. But we change nothing.
July 20, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Waste and Recycling Workers’ Rights in Los Angeles
Every American produces garbage. The issue of what happens to this waste is relevant to all of us. Before watching this video, it had never occurred to me that waste plant workers in the U.S. are encountering human rights abuses on a daily basis.
June 26, 2012
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Video Advocacy Example: Hope for Intravenous Drug Users In Russia
The Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF) is the only organization providing needle exchange for drug users in Moscow. Their mission is to promote and develop humane drug policy based on tolerance, protection of health, dignity and human rights.
June 14, 2012
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Whose Media Is It?: How Police Requests for Unreleased Footage Blur the Line Between News and Evidence
A near 6-month battle between British news broadcasters and the police has recently concluded: last December’s court decision that ordered television companies including BBC, ITN, and Sky News to surrender to police hours of unaired footage from the violent October 19th Dale Farm eviction, was thrown out. Journalists are now hailing the decision as a landmark victory in the fight for news neutrality and confidentiality.
May 31, 2012
