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: Reverse brain drain
I produced this online radio show for Worldfocus.org.
Though the U.S. has often been called the “land of opportunity,” the country is losing some of its top minds to companies overseas.
In a phenomenon known as reverse brain drain, highly skilled immigrants and foreign students in the U.S. are returning to their home countries — nations like India or China whose industries might seem attractive as U.S. unemployment rises and visa restrictions come into effect.
Does the U.S. risk falling behind as these businesspeople and innovators return to work in their home countries? Worldfocus.org’s weekly radio show explores the emerging opportunities for highly-skilled immigrants around the world, U.S. immigration restrictions, and what all this “brain circulation” means for the U.S.
Listen to extended interviews with Hanson Li of a China-based investment bank and Yeniva Sisay, who grew up in the U.S. but returned to her ancestral home of Sierra Leone: China and West Africa beckon talented minds home.
Read the frustrating experience of a “slumdog immigrant” from India who is living in the U.S. on an H-1B visa. Rajeet Mohan also offers some solutions to retain and leverage highly-skilled immigrants in the U.S.
Martin Savidge hosted a conversation with Vivek Wadhwa and Michele Wucker.
Vivek Wadhwa is a senior research associate at the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University. He is an entrepreneur who founded two technology companies and is the author of the forthcoming report tentatively titled “America’s Loss is the World’s Gain,” a study of Chinese and Indian immigrants who have returned to their home countries. Vivek also writes a column at BusinessWeek.
Michele Wucker is the executive director of the World Policy Institute in New York City and the author of “Lockout: Why America Keeps Getting Immigration Wrong When Our Prosperity Depends on Getting It Right” and “Why Cocks Fight: Dominicans, Haitians and the Struggle for Hispaniola.” She also was a 2007 Guggenheim Fellow working on evolving notions of citizenship, belonging and exclusion. Her work involves the politics and economics of immigration and integration, transnational political processes, the politics of culture, Latin America and the Caribbean and international finance.
Theme design by Borja Fernandez.