Video for Change Archives - Page 33 of 53

Personal Reflection on Human Rights Values and the Anti-Muslim Video I'd like to share my views on the recent events as a human rights advocate who has used/is using video for human rights change - particularly recently in North Africa and the Middle East; as an African; and as a Christian. WITNESS September 19, 2012
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. WITNESS September 12, 2012
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. WITNESS September 5, 2012
Observing Labor Rights as Human Rights Yesterday the United States and Canada celebrated Labor Day. It is meant to be a day set aside to honor the contributions workers in both countries make to their economies and societies. In the United States, it was President Grover Cleveland who designated the first Monday in September as Labor Day in part to distance the federal holiday from the more "radical" overtones of May Day - which is still observed in many parts of the world as the day to honor laborers. Matisse Bustos Hawkes September 4, 2012
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. WITNESS August 21, 2012
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. WITNESS August 14, 2012
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. WITNESS August 10, 2012
Tips for Activists Using the YouTube Face Blur Tool Recently, YouTube launched a feature that allows blurring on videos uploaded to their site. It's a step we've pushed for from the commercial video-sharing platforms and social networks - as a way to enable easy, faster, more accessible options for preserving and enabling visual anonymity in a networked, visual age. WITNESS August 7, 2012
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? WITNESS August 6, 2012
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? WITNESS July 26, 2012
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. WITNESS July 24, 2012
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. WITNESS July 20, 2012
Visual Anonymity and YouTube’s New Blurring Tool Today YouTube announced a new tool within their upload editor that enables people to blur the faces within the video, and then publish a version with blurred faces. Sam Gregory July 18, 2012
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. WITNESS June 26, 2012
Behind-the-Scenes of Our 20th Anniversary Video The challenge: Make a video that encapsulates WITNESS and its work empowering human rights defenders to use video since 1992, set against a backdrop of global events from the last 20 years. Yvonne Ng June 22, 2012