Independent Global Citizen is a platform to tell positive stories about Africans helping Africans. I want to use social media as a storytelling tool to help those helping others.
Topical focus:
Country:
What locality or neighborhood will your project focus on?
Plano, TX USA
Describe the specific community with whom you will be working.
The corporate media narrative and western public perception of African often focuses on death, danger, destruction, and disease on the continent. There is an amazing amount of diversity and positive stories that get overlooked. I want to amplify the voices of people and community based organizations in Africa to reach a global audience.
What kinds of news, stories and other content will be created?
Independent Global Citizen will tell positive stories about Africans helping Africans by using a array of multimedia content to communicate stories from the continent.
What technologies and digital tools do you plan to use in the trainings?
Other tools
Social Media resources like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Vimeo, and Pinterest.
Describe the connections that you or your organization have already established that will contribute to the success of the project.
I'm active on social media. I've been able to have other websites and media outlets publicize stories featured on Independent Global Citizen. Some of these media outlets are high profile media institutions like CNN, BBC, and Al Jazeera.
How many participants do you think will be involved in your project?
I have a diverse network to share stories and provide informative and educational content. I would like to be able to pay contributors like authors and journalists for excellent stories.
Contact name
Michael Kirkpatrick
Organization
Independent Global Citizen
1 comment
Interesting idea. There is absolutely a mass media focus on disaster and crisis when talking about Africa.
You plan to use social media to help those who are being altruistic in their home communities. But, how will publicising and sharing these stories directly benefit those people on the ground in Africa?
And, who will write (and be paid for writing) these stories – people based in Africa or elsewhere?