Multimedia highlights from 2009
From war in eastern Congo, HIV / AIDS in the Caribbean, entrepreneurship in Ethiopia and Jamaica’s Chinese community, here are some of the (video, radio and print) stories I produced this year.
MULTIMEDIA PACKAGES
Crisis in Congo — With field producers, I produced and edited videos about the humanitarian crisis and the epidemic of rape by telling the stories of two families caught up in the war. Pascal and Vestine flee from refugee camp to refugee camp, and Georgina and André explain how her rape tore apart their 33-year marriage. The “Crisis in Congo” videos won the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in the international television category and were nominated for a National News Emmy in the “Best story in a regularly scheduled newscast” category.
Jamaica’s Glass Closet — I collaborated with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting on five broadcast videos on HIV/AIDS and homophobia in Jamaica. Our stories break down Jamaica’s social structure from anti-gay laws to social intolerance, we document an underground gay church service and follow a community leader as she raises awareness of HIV/AIDS. Additional online content include: articles, blogposts, a radio show and video interviews.
Stateless to Statehood — This ongoing multimedia project examines the root causes of statelessness in the post-colonial period, in the the aftermath of major wars and the break-up of empires. We’re identifying potential ways to solve statelessness via legal and political avenues, as well as exploring the themes of nationalism and ethnic identity.
VIDEO
One island, two Jamaicas and a ‘whole heap’ of difference — A public debate erupted earlier this year when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaica’s airwaves. The public responses reveal the legacy of two Jamaicas dating back to the country’s slave history. I scripted, produced and edited this video for the Worldfocus broadcast in October 2009.
Pascal and Vestine are alive in Congo, but still not home — Michael J. Kavanagh returned to eastern Congo last month and found Pascal and Vestine. He interviewed the Bumbaris last year, and since, they’ve fled for a third time and are now in a new refugee camp. We updated this story, which aired on the Worldfocus broadcast in March 2009.
Caribbean HIV rate ranks second to Sub-Saharan Africa — Julia Greenberg of AIDS-Free World discusses Jamaica’s AIDS epidemic within the context of the Caribbean region, address anti-sodomy laws in Jamaica and around the world and identify the successes and shortcomings Jamaica has experienced in containing the epidemic. I produced this studio interview, which was published on Worldfocus.org in September 2009.
RADIO
Worldfocus Radio — I report, script and produce a weekly radio show with host Martin Savidge. We dedicate 30 minutes to under-reported international stories. Guests call in from all over the world for casual conversations on serious issues. This radio show grew out of an idea to experiment with a free, online audio platform — almost 40 shows later, it has become one of the most popular content streams on our website.
My favorite three shows:
Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia — The Ethiopian government is trying to strengthen local businesses and attract foreign direct investment. Martin Savidge hosts Ermyas Amelga and Phillip LeBel to discuss how easy it is to do business in Ethiopia and who’s investing.
Philippines — The Forgotten Terrorist Front — Since 9/11, the U.S. has stationed 500 to 600 troops in the Philippines to root out terrorists from the lawless jungles of the heavily Muslim south. Martin Savidge hosts Eliseo Mercado and Zachary Abuza to discuss Filipino counter-insurgency.
Reverse Brain Drain (China and India) — Does the U.S. risk falling behind as skilled immigrants return to their home countries? Martin Savidge hosts Vivek Wadhwa and Michele Wucker to discuss emerging opportunities for highly-skilled immigrants and U.S. immigration restrictions.
Generations meet in Jamaica’s Chinese cemetery — I write about a visit to my grandfather’s grave in the Chinese cemetery in Kingston, Jamaica. It’s a personal story about the death and renewal of Jamaica’s Chinese community.
Conflict endures in Ethiopia’s ethnic Somali region — I interview former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia David H. Shinn about the violent, separatist conflict in southeastern Ethiopia that has claimed thousands of lives over the last 15 years. He answers questions about the roots of this under reported conflict and whether it could be the next Darfur.
No daggerin’ on Jamaican TV and on Worldfocus — I write about why Worldfocus decided not to air daggerin’ images, addresses the realities of rampant violence and adolescent sex and explore how some Jamaican artists are singing more uplifting gospel Dancehall music.
Gay men in Jamaica must lead two separate lives — I’ve been on the “gay Jamaican” beat for two years now. Here is a story of a gay Jamaican whose story resembles many other gay men in Jamaica. He received asylum in the U.S. on the basis of his sexuality but still wrestles with issues of secrecy and religion, and his family in Jamaica still doesn’t know he’s gay.
Top 10 Worldfocus Radio Shows of 2009
I produce Worldfocus Radio.
Worldfocus presents radio highlights from our weekly radio show — powered by BlogTalkRadio — which covers underreported stories from around the world.
From entrepreneurship in Ethiopia and Sri Lanka’s bloody civil war to reverse brain drain in China and Baha’is in modern Iran, listen to the most popular shows from 2009:
Worldfocus Radio: ‘The Stans’ in Transition
I produced this radio show for Worldfocus.org.
‘The Stans’ are the five post-Soviet Central Asian republics — Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — with similar historical, political and cultural roots.
These nations are asserting their cultural identity by proposing ethnic language policies — potentially banning the use of the Russian language.
In Kyrgyzstan, there’s a proposal to make Kyrgyz the dominant governmental language, and in Tajikistan, there’s another to ban the use of Russian in public institutions and official documents.
This week, Chinese President Hu Jintao opened a new gas pipeline that extends from Turkmenistan to north-west China — the first without Russia’s Gazprom.
Martin Savidge hosts William Fierman, a professor of Central Asian studies at Indiana University, and Nikolay Petrov, a scholar at the Carnegie Moscow Center.
They discuss:
- Common political, cultural and historical roots but not a homogeneous entity
- Post-Soviet relationships between ‘The Stans’ and Russia — how ethnic tensions and discrimination continue
- Economic crisis, drug trafficking, oil and migration
- How Russia, China and the United States are vying for ‘The Stans’
- Political instability and poor economic well-being raise concerns about the rise of Islamic fundamentalism
- Could Central Asia become the next conflict zone — even the next Afghanistan?
Worldfocus Radio: Red China Goes Green
I co-produced this radio show for Worldfocus.org.
This week, world leaders from almost 200 countries are meeting to discuss the future of our planet. From Tonga and Mauritius to Japan and Brazil, the community of nations hopes to enact lasting change.
While a host of difficult decisions often scare business leaders, voters and politicians, global pressure continues to mount. China and India, as well as the U.S. and E.U., have already committed to significant cuts in the release of harmful greenhouse gases.
Will China accept slower economic growth, stricter rules and higher energy costs that could result? While virtually no one in China denies climate change, debate focuses on the speed of the shift to renewable energy.
Joining Martin Savidge from Beijing is Greenpeace China’s senior campaigner Rashid Kang and from Washington D.C. Julian Wong, senior policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.
They explore the following issues:
- how China is greening rapidly and developing many alternative energy programs — from the world’s most efficient coal power plants to vast wind power fields and solar water heating technology
- why nuclear power is the wrong alternative energy solution for China
- how food security affects China’s alternative energy strategy
- why there are no climate change skeptics in China, but why China can’t go green overnight
- and, the holy grail of alternative energy — storage.
Worldfocus Radio: Uighur unrest in China
I produced this online radio show for Worldfocus.org.
As ethnic clashes between the Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese turn deadly, Worldfocus.org’s weekly radio show explores the recent riots involving China’s Uighur minority. The show also looks at Uighur aspirations of secession, Han Chinese immigration and Chinese nationalism.
The Muslim Uighurs live in the oil-rich Xinjiang region, north of Tibet. The Chinese government has imposed restrictions on the Uighurs’ religious practice in this autonomous region and many Uighurs resent Chinese rule and complain of discrimination.
Worldfocus anchor Martin Savidge hosts the following panel of guests:
Enze Han is a PhD candidate in political science at George Washington University. He grew up in Hangzhou, China, and came to the U.S. in 2004. His research focuses on ethnic minorities in China, and he received a fellowship to study the politics of separatism.
Andrew James Nathan is a political science professor at Columbia University. His teaching and research interests include Chinese politics, foreign policy, and human rights. His books include Constructing Human Rights in the Age of Globalization and How East Asians View Democracy. Watch the Worldfocus’ television interview with Prof. Nathan: Scores killed in China in violent ethnic clashes.
Alim Seytoff is spokesperson for the World Uyghur Congress, Vice-President of Uyghur-American Association, and director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project. He came to the U.S. from China in 1996.
The show also includes a statement from Wenqi Gao, the spokesperson for the Consulate General of China in New York, and, as always, questions from our listeners.
Theme design by Borja Fernandez.