UPDATES ON SAWT ASHABAB’S STATUS

Almost three weeks have gone by since elections day. Summer season has kicked in, finals are over, business is flowing, tourists are coming in and the city is burgeoning with events. And yet, we are still in RootSpace on Friday night, blogging, surfing, thinking, and planning.

The trial period of Sawt Ashabab was a great and exciting experience. We’ve had great contributions along the way and we were very satisfied with the level of enthusiasm and commitment of the participants. Feedback from the press has been very promising and positive as well. You can download issue zero of the print publication here and you can follow the continuing press coverage of the project here.

We are currently wrapping up the project and finalizing our reports. We are already looking for various sources of funding to build Sawt Ashabab as one of the top-circulation print publications and most used online multimedia outlets in Lebanon, by and for young people (roughly 30 years of age and under) and all citizens interested in independent alternative news in Lebanon.

We will be holding a closing party and the first of a series of discussions/brainstorming sessions about "what next" and "what's possible" and more...  The gathering will take place this Sunday , 5pm, in Upstairs, Hamra (more information below).

We are also looking for people with experience in the field to help us out, give some ideas/expertise, and be mentors of sorts. 

If you are interested in coming to the gathering on Sunday... GREAT! 

If you are also interested in helping out in some other ways, or helping out in a more sustained fashion... EVEN BETTER! 

See you on Sunday :-)

Cheers, 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Come Join! 
Closing gathering for Sawt Ashabab… Sunday, 5pm, Upstairs/Hamra (right near Marble Tower Hotel, Makdisi Street).  Come!! :-) 

... PLUS an open discussion about NEXT STEPS… looking at building the effort into an ongoing publication… Sawt Ashabab Issue 1 coming in a few months!
(along with a brainstorming/planning session around the questions "what should/can a community-based, independent, alternative media outlet look like in 2010?" and "what can/should Sawt Ashabab look like?") 

... PLUS showing the best videos produced by Sawt Ashabab contributors, with voting and a nice prize for the top-selected video! 
... PLUS! International premiere of a video collage of the Sawt Ashabab Issue 0 effort … 
... PLUS!! discussion with all about possible activities/opportunities to do cool stuff over the summer... 
... PLUS!!! more. 

All this, for the bargain price of LL 3,000 (all going to the video prizes, chosen by all who attend the event!). 

Any questions, please contact Dima (70-879-225) or Munir (03-138-770). 

Sawt Ashabab Team 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

RootSpace is working to build Sawt Ashabab as one of the top-circulation print publications and most used online multimedia outlets in Lebanon, by and for young people (roughly 30 years of age and under, down to mid-teen years) and all citizens interested in independent alternative news in Lebanon.  The media outlet will:

• be a public media outlet (focusing on important youth, citizen, and public issues);
• be run in an educational manner (engaging students and young people, both those studying media/journalism and others, to improve their writing skills, promote collaboration and creative problem solving, and foster critical thinking and critical media consumption);
• involve young people from around Lebanon (universities, high school students, and non-students, from all groups, classes, religions, etc);
• be both in print and with a strong interactive and participatory multimedia web component;
• use appropriate technology to both train people in how to use ICTs (information and communications technologies) more effectively, and to engage a broader cross-section of people in Lebanon, even those not well-connected to the Internet and new technologies; 
• distribute the print edition freely (the first free-distribution news publication in Lebanon; initially monthly, aiming to shift to bi-monthly and then weekly after that);
• build towards long-term sustainability by generating revenue via advertising and sponsors;
• maintain a viewpoint that is open and critical, and will remain free of any political or sectarian affiliation;
• be inclusive of people from different groups, organizations, income classes, people with disabilities, etc;
• be in both English and Arabic; and
• maintain high journalistic and ethical standards.

 

The main content outputs include:

- regular online content (including articles, multimedia/graphics, radio/podcasts, videos, etc) and participatory tools;

- a monthly free-distribution print publication;

- educational modules for high schools regarding information and media literacy.  

 

The Information and Media Literacy Component

Practical, current, and hands-on media workshops will be organized in schools in order to introduce students to IML and to the development, history, and nature of mass media. The initial workshops will consist of four sessions, three hours each, once per week (over the course of one month).  We aim to conduct introductory workshops at 6 high schools (public & private) to refine and develop the curriculum.  With further funding, we would like to develop a module that could easily be replicated and distributed to teachers and others (basic training, and training of trainers) to expand the impact and participation in this program. 

The syllabus for the IML workshop will be based on the 5 core concepts developed by the Center for Media Literacy in Santa Monica, California, adapted to the Lebanese media spectrum.  The Lebanese media will be our main source of documentation and case study examples (articles, archives, selected cuts from TV prime news, radio talk shows, etc).