Palestinian Radio

The escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict, economic deprivation and technical problems make working in the Palestinian territories especially difficult for media professionals. Years of physical attacks and official censorship have increased self-censorship and deprived the Palestinian people of credible local sources of news and information.

Internews Europe and Internews Middle East have designed a project to address this issue by increasing the quantity, diversity and professionalism of Palestinian independent local radio.

Through journalism training, technical assistance, media law assistance, and equipment grants Internews aims to strengthen the role of local radio in supporting freedom of expression, local democracy and other fundamental aspects of civil society.

Based in East Jerusalem, Internews Middle East plans to select fifty journalists from fourteen local radio stations for training and networking. Set to start in early 2004, the project will provide a mechanism for local radio stations to collaborate on news stories and share information.

Internews will also train journalists in reporting on elections. The project will enlist local radio stations to explain to listeners how they can actively participate in the election process.

The two-year project is funded by a grant to Internews Europe from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights program of the European Commission. For more information, contact info@internews.fr.