"Sessions like this remind us that we [women journalists] serve as a candle lighting the darkness for future generations of professional women." –RAFI'A AL-TALEI, journalist-trainee from a daily newspaper in Oman |
2003
March 18, 2003. The United States and coalition forces invade Iraq.
INTERNEWS |
March 2003. As war rages next door, 40 Jordanian, Palestinian and Saudi print journalists, nearly all women, gather in Amman, Jordan for an intensive Internews training on accurate, balanced reporting. Internews subsequently trains a new generation of journalists across the Middle East, from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia and Yemen.
INTERNEWS |
May 2003. Responding to the Musharraf government’s decision to open up the broadcast sector to private ownership, Internews launches a project in Pakistan to support the sector, with media law, journalism training and production projects and a significant focus on women. Internews supports Peshawar University to establish the first community radio station in Pakistan, and launches a project to support local journalists working in isolated territories on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
June 2003. Internews Network, Internews Europe and the Western Policy
Center hold a conference in Athens, Greece where 75 Iraqi, Arab, and
Western media experts draft a 72-page media framework for Iraq, designed
to ensure freedom of expression and promote independent media. This leads
to the creation of an Iraqi agency for licensing electronic media and
telecommunications.
"The story of our environment may well be the most important story of the coming century." –ERIC NEWTON, Vice President, Journalism Program, Knight Foundation |
2004
JAMES FAHN/INTERNEWS |
July 2004. Internews Europe starts a project to improve reporting on HIV/AIDS in the Mekong Delta region, training journalists in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
2004. To provide journalists in developing countries with the skills to cover the environment more effectively, Internews launches the Earth Journalism Network. EJN has since trained and supported journalists in China, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Mexico.
September 2004. Under the dot-GOV award, Internews launches a five-year e-government project in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to improve transparency and efficiency by putting government services online. As part of its mission of information access, Internews has also conducted e-government projects in Romania, Kenya, and Madagascar.
ANASTASIA VRACHNOS/SIPA PRESSE |
December 2004. Independent media help lay the groundwork for Ukraine’s Orange Revolution, one of several "color revolutions" in the region, including Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution and the Kyrgyz Republic’s 2005 Tulip Revolution.
December 26, 2004. The Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters on record, kills some 226,000 people.
"Information bestows power. Lack of information can make people victims of disaster . . . People need information as much as water, food, medicine or shelter." –RED CROSS WORLD DISASTERS REPORT 2005 |
"Internews is an internationally respected organization with a proven track record of supporting independent media." –KRISHNA KUMAR, Promoting Independent Media: Strategies for Democracy Assistance, 2006 |
2005
KATHLEEN REEN/INTERNEWS |
January 2005. With emergency funding from the Knight Foundation, Internews teams fly to Aceh, Indonesia and to Sri Lanka, two of the areas hardest-hit by the tsunami, to produce humanitarian information radio programs for affected populations and to donate equipment to devastated local radio stations and radio sets to the public. Through 2006, Internews continued helping independent media there to rebuild after the tsunami, providing vital programming for over 20 stations across Aceh, and daily national broadcasts in Sri Lanka.
FILIP NOUBEL/INTERNEWS |
January 2005. Internews begins work in China, partnering with Chinese universities to support journalists to cover legal issues and the courts via training, networking, and access to expert advice.
JAIME LITTLE/INTERNEWS |
July 2005. As refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan stream into neighboring Chad, Internews begins to establish the first of three community radio stations to serve the refugees as well as the local Chadian population. Internews trains refugees and local journalists to produce radio programs that address the refugees’ critical information needs.
September 2005. An increasingly repressive government in Uzbekistan orders Internews out of the country.
October 2005. The Global Forum for Media Development, organized by Internews and 17 other organizations, meets in Amman, Jordan, uniting hundreds of media support NGOs, journalists, broadcasters and activists from 97 countries. GFMD activities continue into 2007.
October 8, 2005. A massive earthquake centered in northern Pakistan leaves over 80,000 dead and 3.5 million homeless.
M. EDWARDS/STILL PICTURES/INTERNEWS |
October 2005. Having spent the past two years training local journalists, Internews organizes a team of radio reporters in Pakistan to produce a humanitarian information radio program, Jazba-e-Tameer (Desire to Rebuild), on the post-earthquake relief effort in Kashmir and the Northwest Frontier Province. Internews and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees subsequently deliver 10,000 multi-power radio sets to refugees.
"We have a moral and social responsibility through our media to save lives . . . yes, avian flu is scary, but we can make a difference." –INTERNEWS JOURNALIST-TRAINEE in Indonesia |
2006
January 2006. Hamas wins a majority in the Palestinian legislature. The international community responds by cutting off almost all aid for the West Bank and Gaza.
June 2006. Internews opens an office in Ramallah to support local broadcast outlets in the West Bank and Gaza, including providing grants to independent TV and radio stations.
IVAN SIGAL/INTERNEWS |
February 2006. As Sri Lanka struggles with renewed conflict, Internews establishes media production and training centers in the east and south of the country to give voice to the needs and concerns of local communities.
2006. Human cases of avian flu spread beyond Asia, killing a total of 80 people this year.
SONNY INBARAJ KRISHNAN/INTERNEWS |
April 2006. Internews expands its health journalism work to improve reporting on avian flu in developing countries. In addition to training journalists in Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nigeria, Thailand, and Vietnam to date, Internews has also published a training manual on avian flu reporting.
INTERNEWS |
May 2006. When a 6.2 earthquake strikes Yogyakarta, Indonesia, Internews aids community radio stations in rebuilding and helps establish an emergency radio station to provide news of relief and reconstruction for survivors.
September 2006. Internews participates in the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, where Internews’ commitment to establish a Humanitarian Media Assistance Program is highlighted.
"Jazba helped end confusion about seismic reports in the red zone areas and stopped rumors about mass evacuation. Now people have enough information and have started rebuilding their homes." –GUL PERVEZ, a listener to Internews' radio program Jazba-e-Tameer, in Thakot Village, Battagram, Pakistan |
2007
February 2007. The first student-run community radio station in Jordan, housed at Yarmouk University in Irbid, officially opens. Internews developed the station in partnership with Western Kentucky University and Yarmouk University.
May 3, 2007. On World Press Freedom Day, Internews celebrates its 25th anniversary. In its first quarter-century, Internews has worked in 70 countries worldwide. The organization continues to foster independent media and access to information for people around the world.
IVAN SIGAL/INTERNEWS |