"Internews [is] one of the more successful agents of change in the former Soviet Union . . . Starting in 1992, when Russians could watch nothing but official news on state television, Internews helped establish independent stations in provincial cities across Russia, providing equipment and training in both journalism and business methods. It then helped create a network of these independent stations, so that they could exchange experience and share news without a Moscow bias. The effect, in many places, has been revolutionary." –EDITORIAL, WASHINGTON POST, January 18, 1997 |
"What you've shown us is what I did during the genocide. I am glad you have shown that, and I am very sorry for what I did." –DETAINEE ACCUSED OF WAR CRIMES, Kigali prison, Rwanda |
1997
January 9, 1997. Chris Gehring, Internews’ respected Director
of Central Asian Operations, is murdered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He
was 28. Friends and colleagues around the world miss him still.
1997. In Arusha, Tanzania, the United Nations begins the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for the 1994 genocide that left more than 500,000 people dead in the space of 100 days.
1997. Internews begins providing daily news coverage of the UN tribunal. Then-First Lady Hillary Clinton visits the Internews office in Arusha, Tanzania to broadcast a radio address to the Rwandan people. Internews later creates innovative “newsreels” explaining the war crimes justice process and uses a mobile cinema to screen them in villages across Rwanda. More than 200,000 people around the country, including 80,000 prisoners accused of war crimes, have watched and discussed the Internews-produced films, for many the only source of information about the trials.
WANDA E. HALL/INTERNEWS |
"We don't get much chance to see our 'enemies.' Only in this way can we start to understand them. They don't look or act much different from us." –PEREKRYOSTOK VIEWER |
"(Internews') success in promoting democracy, pluralism, conflict resolution and the growth of active, well-informed civil societies in emerging democracies is undeniable." –SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE, July 28, 1996 |
1998
INTERNEWS |
1998. Television professionals from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia launch a TV news magazine for the southern Caucasus. Perekryostok (Crossroads) breaks new ground in crossing ethnic and national divisions in this conflict-ridden region. In 2005 Internews launches Kids Crossroads, produced by teenagers from three countries.
1998. A few of the many Internews television productions this year: The Fourth Estate, a hard-hitting weekly series analyzing the role of media in the former Soviet Union, one of twelve Internews news programs in the region; Balkan Bridges, a spacebridge TV series for the former Yugoslavia produced by Internews Europe; The Other Algeria, an Internews Europe series on the personal side of the civil war in Algeria; “Vis à Vis: Blue and Black,” a PBS documentary linking black police officers in Soweto, South Africa and Philadelphia; a US-Iran link during the World Soccer Cup; and a video link between two old friends separated by the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
ANASTASIA VRACHNOS/SIPA PRESSE |
May 1998. After a three-decade reign, authoritarian Indonesian president Suharto is forced to resign following mass demonstrations. His departure paves the way for independent media in Indonesia.
August 1998. Internews conducts a comprehensive survey of the broadcast media in Indonesia and organizes its first seminar on media law in Jakarta. Internews subsequently launches an extensive program that provides training, support, and programming to independent radio stations, and works with Article XIX to develop part of Indonesia’s progressive 1999 press law.
"Finally, real TV! It is so refreshing to be able to watch TV that does not constantly tell Americans that they are the center of the universe, but instead reminds them that we are all part of the same world." –LINK TV VIEWER |
"In the one year we've been in existence we've become a powerful force in our small town. We couldn't have gotten where we are today without the help of Internews training." –SOS SIRADERIAN, Director, Ankyun +3 TV, Alaverdy, Armenia |
1999
INTERNEWS |
1999. In Bosnia, Internews works with local journalists to produce Years of Return, a TV series about the return of expelled minorities to their pre-war homes in the former Yugoslavia; and My Home, a home improvement show for post-war Bosnia, including such tips as how to patch bullet holes. In Serbia and Montenegro, Internews Yugoslavia produces multiple documentary and election programs.
1999. Shortly after the end of the NATO bombing campaign, Internews helps to establish independent radio stations throughout post-war Kosovo, providing equipment and training.
1999. Working with local television stations in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic, Internews debuts Open Asia, the first Central Asia-wide TV news magazine in this tense region, which goes on to broadcast weekly for eight years.
August 1999. East Timor’s referendum on autonomy from Indonesia sets off a rampage by the pro-Indonesian militia that leaves countless dead and half a million homeless. The media infrastructure is also destroyed.
December 1999.
In San Francisco, Internews Network co-founds Link TV, the first US television
channel with a mission to connect Americans with the world. Initiated by
Internews board member David Michaelis and led by Internews co-founder
Kim Spencer, Link TV currently reaches one in four American homes via DIRECTV
and DISH Network, the two major US satellite providers.
"Democracy cannot flourish without a strong and independent media, making the mentoring and training work done by Internews an essential ingredient in the success of our country going forward." –DR. JOSE RAMOS-HORTA, Prime Minister of Timor Leste and Nobel Peace Laureate |
"If one is concerned with economic and social development, then . . . Internet governance policy at the national and local level is extremely useful. The price of access to the Internet, of local telephone calls, of computers, the ability of Internet service providers to form a competitive market, and the ability to access and publish a wide variety of content on the Internet all depend upon national laws and policies." –GEORGE SADOWSKY, Intenews Senior Advisor, ICT Policy, in Libération, August 20, 2004 |
2000
ANASTASIA VRACHNOS/SIPA PRESSE |
January 2000. At the request of the United Nations, Internews opens an office in Timor Leste (East Timor) to help develop a draft regulation for broadcast media. Internews also trains print and radio journalists.
April 2000. The ten millionth Internet domain name is registered. 304 million people now have Internet access, but they are overwhelming concentrated in the developed world.
PRODUCTION TEAM IN TEHRAN/INTERNEWS |
August 2000. The American Iranian Council and Internews sponsor a historic reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where members of the Iranian parliament meet with Members of the US Congress for the first time since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Internews had previously co-sponsored a documentary film week in Tehran and produced three US-Iranian spacebridges.
BILL LYONS PHOTOGRAPHY |
December 2000. Recognizing the transformative power of digital convergence, Internews expands its mission from supporting independent media to fostering access to information, through both traditional media and new media such as the Internet and cell phone technology. With the Center for Democracy and Technology, Internews launches the Global Internet Policy Initiative to promote an open, democratic and affordable Internet. As of 2007 GIPI has supported local policy advocates in 20 countries, who are leading the charge for a user-controlled Internet in each country.
"This training has made me realize that . . . my reporting can make the conflict either better or worse. I used to think that people expect journalists to concentrate on violence, but now I realize that people need something more from us." –INDONESIAN JOURNALIST-TRAINEE, Reporting for Peace |
2001
2001. Reporting for Peace, Internews’ special training program for journalists from regions of conflict, teaches a total of some 200 journalists in Indonesia, Timor Leste and Kosovo how to defuse tensions through objective and even-handed reporting.
BBS NEWS |
September 11, 2001. Terrorist attacks on US soil focus attention on the Muslim world. The US soon leads a military campaign against the Taliban government in Afghanistan. A new provisional government is installed there in December 2001.
BILL LYONS PHOTOGRAPHY |
2001. The dot-GOV program, funded by the US Agency for International Development and led by Internews, begins working for liberalized telecommunications and Internet policies in a competitive market. Over the next four years, dot-GOV projects span more than three dozen developing countries, working with national governments and key stakeholders.
December 2001. Spurred by 9/11, Link TV begins producing Mosaic: World News from the Middle East, a daily compilation of television news reports from the Middle East. In 2005 the program wins a prestigious Peabody Award.
"Internews is an incredible organization, waging a persistent battle and outperforming anyone else (in media development) in failing states like Afghanistan." –AHMED RASHID, journalist, author of Taliban and Jihad, and co-founder of The Open Media Fund for Afghanistan with Internews |
2002
WAHID RAZIQI/INTERNEWS |
February 2002. Internews establishes an office in Kabul, Afghanistan to help establish local, professional media. Internews has subsequently built 32 independent radio stations around the country owned and operated by Afghan organizations, provided training and equipment to local journalists, produced radio programs with Afghan producers, and established a satellite radio information network that broadcasts 10 hours per day.
GEORGES COLLINET/INTERNEWS |
2002. Internews launches its Local Voices
program, which trains and mentors deejays, talk show hosts and radio
journalists to report on HIV/AIDS accurately and effectively, with offices
in Nairobi, Kenya and Abuja, Nigeria. The project later expands to Ethiopia,
Côte d’Ivoire,
and India.