GGM launches program in Chicago with Free Spirit Media
GlobalGirl Media (GGM) is partnering with Free Spirit Media (FSM) to launch a journalism and digital media production workshop that will train 15 under-served Chicago girls to report, produce and disseminate media relevant to their lives.
Free Spirit Media is Chicago’s leading youth media education and production organization. “Free Spirit Media is thrilled to partner with GGM to further open doors to media empowerment and global understanding for the young women of Chicago” said Jeff McCarter, Executive Director of Free Spirit
Media.
The program, which launched July 9 with a four-week summer training “Academy,” is designed to address the profound lack of representation of women and girls in new media and digital journalism and provide leadership and career opportunities for young women from under-represented communities. “Our aim is to empower teenage girls and young women to own and understand their voice, that it has meaning in the world,” said Amie Williams, Executive Director of GlobalGirl Media. “We provide them with an introduction to the professional world of journalism so they can bring attention to the experiences and challenges that define their lives and that are too often overlooked by mainstream media.”
“I became a journalist 18 years ago because as a young girl growing up on the south side of Chicago I felt I had no voice,” said Ovetta Sampson, Program Coordinator for GlobalGirl Media/Free Spirit Media program. “After a long and rewarding career reporting from dozens of countries my only goal was to teach others, especially young girls how to find their voice through media. This program is my dream come true and will certainly help alter the media landscape in Chicago for years to come.”
The Academy will help the participants develop news literacy, digital media and critical thinking skills, as well as nurture the girls’ global vision and civic engagement. The hands-on curriculum includes identifying and telling a story; journalism ethics; using a camera, sound and technical equipment; digital/mobile citizen journalism; and social media as a tool for development.
The Academy will be taught by two professional journalists from GGM and FSM staff, and will take place at the Westinghouse Leadership Academy in West Chicago. The participants will be paired with GGM programs in South Africa, Morocco and Los Angeles to share stories, experience and know-how. Once the Academy is concluded, the Global Girls will continue to meet weekly to produce content throughout the school year in Chicago, in the FSM-GGM “News Bureau.”
Dear GGM,
I’m a videographer with a recent grad degree from the film department at the Art Institute of Chicago. My thesis project called “Go! Go! Global Girls” launches this Fall as an eco-fem media hub for teens and tweens. I recently came across your site via google, read about the GGM/FSM Chicago workshop and thought to reach out.
The Go! Go!s would love to support and connect with GGM makers from Chicago and elsewhere who are interested in covering environmental issues. Often, underserved communities are the most affected and the least reported. Our first season of web television is focused in particular on water issues and how they don’t stop at city/state/national borders. Plans for our initial content address water issues in Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.
As a media hub, perhaps we could highlight your work and interview some of your journalists? In addition, please let us know if your workshops are producing content relating to girls and the environment and we will be happy to include links to it on our website to generate more awareness. I will be encouraging our network to create a Global Girl Club.
Although myself and my crew have been developing this project for over 3 years, we are just in the beginnings of our outreach. Our launch date is this September 22nd at gogoglobalgirls.com.
With much encouragement and respect, I say Go! Go! Globalgirl Media! Hope to see you around on the ethernet.
Best,
Mikal Shapiro