Media for Peace: Trilingual Digital Magazine
Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.
Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?
Bambi
Sheleg
Eretz Acheret ("A Different Land")
, J
More than 5 years
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Established (you've got demonstrated success)
Operating for more than 5 years
Bambi Sheleg was a widely respected journalist and editor in Israel when Prime Minister Yizhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995. Like everyone, she was shaken, but even more so because the assassin cited his religious ideology as a motive for his heinous act. After all, she, too, came from the Orthodox Jewish world. As a member of the media, she felt particularly responsible. Following the assassination, Bambi quit her job and embarked on three years soul-searching. She realized that the need to sell papers had driven the media to highlight fanaticism across Israel. Bambi determined to change that: to shift public discourse, reduce violent sectarianism, and promote media reform. Bambi’s personal transformation forged a mission to create a new media that is not profit-seeking but solely interested in building a different dialogue within society based on common humanitarian values, human rights, equality and social justice. Thus Eretz Acheret was born.
The bi-monthly Eretz Acheret magazine has impacted laws, governmental policies, and justice. It has been cited in Supreme Court cases, has generated parliamentary debates and is regularly consulted by various ministries. Magazines are also used as texts in universities graduate courses for social work, public policy and more. There are 35,000 regular readers and another 7,000 on-line readers – including a disproportionate number of 20-something readers (30% of the readership), an astounding finding that bucks international media trends. It is read across social sectors, and has a very long shelf-life.
By the end of five years, we plan to have:
* 100,000 visitors per month
* marked impact on social policy and governance – citations in parliamentary debates and drafts of legislation, for example
* impact on mainstream media – writers and informants recruited by the mainstream media for stories and coverage
We believe and hope that this idea will be replicated, that media outlets around the region will adopt this approach of media for peace, a media that replaces the for-profit model of highlighting bloodshed and extremism with a genuine search for the common vision and ethos of humanity across society.
By the end of six months, we hope to have the infrastructure nearly ready to begin uploading content.
Design the digital infrastructure that will enable a tri-lingual online magazine with text and video content and tri-lingual con
Create the graphic design
Test the system, conduct quality assurance
By the end of the first year, the infrastructure should be ready, writers/reporters should be ready to upload, and editors and t
Hire reporters, editors and translators
Assign stories
Edit, translate, and begin uploading content
More than 10,000
More than 10,000
Non-profit
The main barrier to success is funding. The advantage of not-for-profit media is editorial freedom. The disadvantage is insecure funding sources. The main strategy at the moment is to continue fundraising through not-for-profit channels.
We expect trends of recent years to continue: the superficiality of media coverage, the chase after ratings, the involvement of interested parties in broadcasts and their influence on content, and the decline of investigative journalism. The result is the absence of a sincere, deep social discourse for a public engaged in complex, sophisticated issues – a process that ultimately threatens the entire democratic process. Our solution fights these trends by modeling not-for-profit, trilingual investigative journalism and sincere, engaged social discourse.
The goal of creating a not-for-profit media is crucial for democratic society. If this particular project does not gain traction, we will seek out other avenues for promoting a deep social discourse via investigative journalism aimed at humanizing conflicting parties. We will seek out alternative technologies and strong partners who share this vision. Peace in the Middle East is a long-term goal. We will continue pursuing this model for an alternative media until this goal I achieved.
Eretz Acheret relies on subscriptions and some advertising for approximately half of its budget. The rest of the budget comes from foundations, government funding (Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education, Jerusalem Municipality), and private donations.
Eretz Acheret works with many not-for profit organizations and prides itself on providing a media platform for those working in the field of social change.
In addition to Bambi's visionary leadership and a professional team of writers and editors, Eretz Acheret's volunteer board comprises leading thinkers, writers and activists from across the spectrum, including: Nazir Majally, Palestinian journalist from Nazareth; Micha Odenheimer, journalist, founder and director of Tevel B'tzedek; Yehudit Shvaig Former Director of the Sheldon Adelson Fund;Anat Tzuria, film director;Zvi Zameret,Director of the Pedagogical Center, Ministry of Education; Yoav Artzieli, Lawyer and Director of Gavison-Medan Covenant
Investment, Collaboration or networking, Pro-bono help (legal, financial, etc.).
Human resources or talent, Marketing or media, Research or information, Collaboration or networking, Mentorship.
Eretz Acheret can offer exposure to ideas and innovations of other people working on social change and peace in the Middle East.
Eretz Acheret is an independent not-for-profit magazine that advances the moral and social development of Israeli society.