Brave New Media BBC Media Action

 
This is Brave New Media – a global podcast featuring journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem. 
 
In series two, we explore stories the critical roles media can play in different contexts - and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers. 
 
Each episode features a specialist who digs deep into the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and provides possible solutions.  
 
In this final episode of series two, we meet Argaw Ashine, an Ethiopian journalist who co-founded the media outlet Wazema.  
 
Argaw tells us how Wazema began in exile, after he and the other founders had to flee Ethiopia due to the risky political environment. 
 
But in 2020, taking advantage of a period of media liberalisation in Ethiopia, they decided to return and move Wazema’s operation there.   
 
Argaw explains that after a golden period, when Wazema helped create a more democratic and inclusive space, the outbreak of civil war brought an end to the media freedoms they enjoyed.  
 
And now, Wazema faces a constant struggle to uphold the public interest amid the turmoil of conflict. 
 
Our specialist interview for this episode is with Rashwear Mukundu, advisor on African media policy for International Media Support (IMS). 
 
A transcript of the episode is available here: 
 
Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk 
 
Show Links: 
 
https://wazemaradio.com  
https://www.youtube.com/@Wazemaradio  
https://www.mediasupport.org 
 

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Welcome to Brave New Media, the global podcast that showcases the stories of journalists and editors from around the world in our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem. 
 
In series two, we explore the role media plays in different contexts and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers. 
 
Each episode features a specialist who provides expert analysis to the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and offers possible solutions.  
 
In this episode, we travel to Tanzania to meet Jacqueline Lawrence, who created a community radio station, Highlands FM, in her home region, Mbeya.  
 
Highlands has played a vital role in the economic development of this agricultural region, through public debates that connect the station’s audiences with local and national government officials. 
 
But Jacqueline shares the challenges she has faced in steering a difficult course between reflecting the concerns of her audiences, and avoiding antagonising the authorities.  
 
Our specialist for this episode is Alphonce Shiundu, a Kenyan journalist who works with Africa Check, a fact-finding organisation that seeks to improve the quality of information across Africa. 
 
Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk 
 
 
Show Links: 
https://www.instagram.com/mbeyahighlandsfm/?hl=en 
https://africacheck.org 

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Welcome to series two of Brave New Media, the global podcast featuring the brave and exciting work of journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to create a healthier media ecosystem. 
 
In this series we delve deep into the role of media in different contexts and how these roles impact their relationship with political powers. 
 
And just like in our first series, in each episode, a specialist will analyse the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and propose solutions.  
 
We start this series by heading to Indonesia to hear Evi Mariani’s story.  
 
Evi tells us about Project Multatuli, the media platform she co-founded to hold authorities to account in this vast country, where economic and political power is mostly concentrated in the capital, Jakarta.  
 
Evi shares how Project Multatuli found itself in direct conflict with authorities after it published a story about police inaction over a sexual abuse case involving children. 
 
Rebecca Vincent, the director of international campaigns for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), then delves into the issues of media safety discussed by Evi. 
 
Brave New Media is a co-production between BBC Media Action and Holy Mountain. It’s presented by Maha Taki and produced by Saskia Black. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk 
 
Show Links: 
 
https://projectmultatuli.org  
https://twitter.com/projectm_org 
https://tcij.org/person/rebecca-vincent/  
 
Notes on Project Multatuli’s funding structure: 
 
In December 2022, 45% of Project Multatuli’s funding was from grants and then 45% was from revenue from outsourcing their team’s journalism skills to other companies and outlets. The remaining 10% is from their membership programme. 
 

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Welcome to episode three of Brave New Media –  a global podcast featuring journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to help create a healthier media ecosystem. In each episode, a specialist digs deep into the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and offers solutions.
 
In this episode, Brave New Media heads to Paraguay to hear Jazmin Acuna’s story. Jazmin tells us about the struggles and breakthroughs of El Surti, a digital media platform that she co-founded to challenge the grip of the co-opted mainstream media over Paraguayan communities. El Surti uses striking graphic design to better reach audiences on social media.
 
Jazmin Acuna was spurred to action by a government bid to collect and process people’s digital communications data for surveillance on security grounds. 
 
The success of the ensuing digital rights campaign inspired Jazmin to create her own media enterprise that would challenge the algorithms, paid influencers and paid ads of the big power interests. She tells the story of El Surti’s creation and success, describing how her community team keep track of audience engagement, and what content they produce works and doesn’t work in attracting and retaining followers. 
 
The strategy is discussed by Mijal Iastrebner of SembraMedia, a Buenos Aires-based institute dedicated to supporting independent media build sustainable business models. She assesses El Surti’s achievement, and sets out how tracking social impact and building smart alliances can open the door to media success.
 
A transcript is available on the Brave New Media homepage or here: shorturl.at/aFKO4
 
Brave New Media is presented by Maha Taki and is A Holy Mountain Production, produced by Saskia Black, for BBC Media Action - the BBC's international charity. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk
 
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More information on El Surti:
 
El Surti is short for El Surtidor, which roughly translates to The Provider.
 
It was set up in 2016 and now has a multi-skilled newsroom of about 10 people made up of journalists, illustrators, graphic designers and a product and community team. They reach approximately 700,000 people per month and an average of 20,000 people interact with their content. 70% percent of their audiences are under 35 and 30% under 24.
 
Their social media posts are short story texts blooming with colours, textures, different topographies and attractive drawings. They also do long form texts, timelines, fact checks and interviews that people can read and listen to on their website.
 
They make a concerted effort to not only use social media platforms that are mediated by algorithms. For a year now they have built a community of about 250 members whom they meet with regularly, online or in person, to talk about solutions to most pressing issues for young people such as the climate crisis. They also have a WhatsApp group with about 6,000 members whom they can talk to directly. Over 50% of funding comes from international grants, with the rest subsidised through a training and communication services arm of the organisation. 
 
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Show Links: 
https://elsurti.com/
https://www.facebook.com/elsurti/
https://www.instagram.com/elsurti/
https://twitter.com/elsurti
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN9UA42z2e5lIcFP7bwQCag
 

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Welcome to episode two of Brave New Media – a global podcast featuring journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as part of our mission to help create a healthier media ecosystem. In each episode a specialist digs deep into the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and offers solutions.
 
In this episode we explore the stories of Katerina Sergatskova and Roman Stepanovych in Ukraine, they describe turning their culture and society digital platform Zaborona into a war-reporting operation, literally overnight.
 
Zaborona means taboo in Ukrainian, which is what Katerina Sergatskova set out to break when she founded this multi-media platform with her partner Roman amid the new freedoms that flourished after Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014. But everything changed when the Russians invaded in February this year. Katerina and her partner Roman explain the lessons they had to learn quickly about how to cover war in their own country, how to become eyewitnesses and chroniclers of terrible events. Veteran BBC war correspondent Allan Little finds much in their stories that resonates with his own experiences, and he reflects on the need to expose myth-making in wartime, and on the virtue of bearing witness. But how do you stay motivated and committed when your mission to reveal injustice has no apparent effect?
 
A transcript is available on the Brave New Media homepage or here: shorturl.at/jwX14
 
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Show Links:
https://zaborona.com/
https://www.facebook.com/zaborona
https://www.instagram.com/zaborona_com/
https://twitter.com/zaborona_media
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJrtV4HxObQ5j9DyNE_CiSg
 
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More information on Zaborona: 
 
Zaborona Media is an online publication covering social challenges, freedoms and security, championing those who stand up for basic rights and try to bring about positive change. Zaborona publishes reports, investigations, documentary video projects, comics and multimedia formats (podcasts and visual stories). 
 
Zabarona has a team of over 30 people. Its funding model consists of contributions from readers on the online membership platform, Patreon, and grants from international organisations and partnerships. 
 
It has an audience reach of around one million per month on its platforms, over 45 per cent of whom are female. Its largest audience is based in Ukraine (80 per cent), with 3 per cent in Russia and Poland, and less than 2 per cent in Austria, Germany and the US. The bulk of its listeners are in the 18-34 age group (40 per cent), closely followed by the 35-54 age group (39.5 per cent).
 
Zaborona recently became a laureate of the Free Media Awards from the Frittord Foundation and Di Zeit Foundation. 
 
We asked Zabarona’s founders to describe their recent successes, and hopes and fears for the future.
 
Which of your recent stories are you most proud of and why?
 
Since the beginning of the invasion Zaborona focuses mostly on the coverage of war crimes and the human scale of the war. We report from the regions that are affected by the Russian aggression more than others; we speak to people who survive constant attacks. The most important story for us so far is the investigation of the attack on the Mariupol drama theater. The world still does not know how many people died in this bomb attack, and how many survived. We conducted interviews with dozens of people and you will hear more about that very soon.
 
Where do you hope to be in a year’s time? What do you need to get there?
 
Let’s hope that the war will be over soon and we will be able to focus on other things. For now, we as Ukrainian media are surviving, but we also have a lot to say to the world about our experience and expertise. We would like to show what it is like to live with the invasion, and what kind of world we would like to see afterwards.
 
What’s your greatest fear for the future of media in Ukraine?
 
Media in Ukraine are on the edge

Welcome to Brave New Media – a global podcast featuring journalists and editors from around the world telling their stories as we explore what can be done to ensure we have a healthier media ecosystem. In each episode, a specialist will dig deep into the issues uncovered by our Brave New Media outlets, and offer solutions.
 
In this episode, we meet Diana Moukalled, one of the founders of Daraj, meaning 'Steps' in Arabic. Her brainchild is a Beirut-based, Arabic-language digital platform, charting a new path through one of the world’s most polarised and censored media landscapes.
 
Diana Moukallad’s brainchild is the Beirut-based digital platform, Daraj, meaning steps in Arabic. 
 
Diana describes her disillusionment with the heavily polarised media landscape in Lebanon and how she gave up her career as a high-profile TV journalist to create her own media start-up. Her struggle to acquire business skills and financing offers powerful insights into the challenges of attaining financial stability while remaining independent. 
 
Responding to Diana’s story is Professor Naomi Sakr, former journalist and author of several authoritative works on media in the Arab world. She reflects on Diana’s story and offers ideas and strategies for how to build financial viability without compromising editorial integrity.
 
A transcript is available on the Brave New Media homepage or here: shorturl.at/lrtV0
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More information on Daraj:
 
Daraj is a pan-Arab digital platform that was launched in 2017.  It covers under-reported topics such as women and minority rights, the environment and climate change, corruption, and freedom of belief and expression. It publishes mainly in Arabic and translates some if its content to English. 
 
Daraj is based in Beirut with a core team of 18 - 20  persons supported by a network of writers, journalists and partners, spread across the world. You can find them all listed on the website.  
 
Daraj is able to generate approximately 25% of their revenue from subsidiary activities like their production arm and training,  with the rest coming from international funders. With the funding they have at present, they produce 7-8 pieces of content a day but their ambition is to grow larger.
 
Daraj has an audience reach of 100,000 per month on its platforms and over 60% of them are females.    The majority (45%) of its audience is under 34 and around 35% is between 35-54. 
 
The largest number of its audience is based in Egypt, Saudi Arabia,  Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan with the rest distributed across the Middle East and in countries with large Arab diaspora (United States, Germany and United Arab Emirates). 
 
https://daraj.com/
 
https://www.instagram.com/darajmedia/
 
https://www.facebook.com/darajmedia
 
https://twitter.com/Daraj_media
 
https://www.youtube.com/c/DarajMedia
 
Brave New Media is presented by Maha Taki and is A Holy Mountain Production, produced by Saskia Black, for BBC Media Action - the BBC's international charity. To contact us, email: media.action@bbc.co.uk

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