IMS (International Media Support)

Always exciting to see IMS' partners working together. This week, the Managing Director of Sri Lanka's Hari TV conducted a training session for the communications team of Hashtag Generation, one of South Asia’s leading providers of social media insights. The session is part of a project promoting cross-partner capacity building in which partners train each other in skills ranging from digital content creation strategy to factchecking methodology. The project is funded by the EU.

IMS (International Media Support) is one of over 70 signatories of a recently published open letter restating that Israel must grant access to #Gaza for foreign journalists to freely report on the war. The letter comes ahead of a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States, where he is set to meet with President Joe Biden and address Congress on 24 July. In addition to news outlets, the signatories – from more than 27 countries – include professional groups and organisations like IMS which are dedicated to defending press freedom. The letter was organised by US press freedom organisation Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In the words of CPJ’s CEO, Jodie Ginsberg: “International, Israeli and Palestinian journalists from outside Gaza should be given independent access to Gaza so they can judge for themselves what is happening in this war –rather than being spoon-fed with a handful of organised tours by the Israeli military.” Read the full letter here: https://lnkd.in/g44XQ5EP If I start to sound like a broken record, it is only because we have seen no tangible action on the very basic demands that we have put forward since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza. One of them is that Israel allows independent access into Gaza for journalists. It is more than five months since I first posted the video below. In it I urge world leaders, governments and influential media organisations to put pressure on Israel to open for access for foreign journalists into Gaza. It is infuriating that there has been no progress made on this. Local Palestinian journalists in Gaza have single-handedly shouldered the responsibility of covering the war from the ground for almost 10 months now. I do not need to remind anyone under what horrible circumstances, deprivation and personal loss they are performing this work. On the other hand, it gives me hope to see that many large media organisations such as AFP, BBC, CNN, NPR, The Guardian and the The Washington Post (just to name a few) are still pursuing this and that their journalists show willingness to enter Gaza and report alongside their Palestinian colleagues despite the massive risk and threat to their lives.

IMS' partner in Zimbabwe CITE has used their AI news presenter, Alice, to present programmes, engage with local politicians and grow audiences. While using an AI presenter has allowed CITE to increase their capacity in the newsroom, they have also encountered challenges along the way. Learn more about CITE's experiences: https://lnkd.in/erygivHk

EAVE European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs, CPH:DOX and IMS are calling for eight teams with documentary projects in development from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The programme takes place over three residential workshops with the aim of stimulating and qualifying inter-regional co-production and connecting documentary projects to regional and international markets. Participants are tutored by regional and international experts. The application deadline is Monday, 12 August 2024. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eh7HRNhF

IMS has launched an open call for core financial support targeting well established, independent media outlets in the Middle East and North Africa with stable operational and production capacities. The financial support will be combined with need-based capacity building, training and coaching/mentoring and opportunities for networking and collaboration. Learn more and apply: https://lnkd.in/eMJu4UGJ

In the Sahel, community radio stations are helping to shore up food security, boost local economies, and reduce conflict in the volatile region. The region’s farmers are tuning into community radio programmes that help them establish vegetable gardens, rotate crops, and restore forests. In Niger’s Tillabéri region, a community radio show led local authorities to grant fenced-off plots that local women used to establish market gardens, boosting the local economy. And in eastern Burkina Faso, a youth radio programme inspired a community-led waterhole clean-up that increased food security and gave young people real alternatives to joining armed groups. Read all about it and much more in our 2023 annual report: https://lnkd.in/dajwnQfh

We're looking for a PCM officer for our ASIA Department to support our media support activities in the region with a focus on programme development and fundraising. In the Asia region, IMS works with partners in South and South-East Asia, incl. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere to further the safety of journalists and promote media reform, build institutions and professional media content. We are looking for a person who has an interest and experience in proposal writing, fundraising, MEL (monitoring, evaluation and learning) and project management. You will report to the Head of the Asia Advisory team, Emilie Lehmann-Jacobsen, and work closely with our country offices in Asia. For more details 👉 https://lnkd.in/dz4khWgH Deadline 5th August

Fundraiser for Strategic Donors International Media Support (IMS) is seeking an experienced fundraiser to contribute with resource mobilization and development of strategic partnerships. At IMS we aim to continue to diversify our revenue base by identifying new sources of funding, financing and income. Therefore, we are looking for an experienced fundraiser to help materialise IMS’ ambitious fundraising strategy. The Fundraiser will refer directly to Maria Gerey Bak, Head of Fundraising at IMS. Full description of the role available 👇 https://lnkd.in/dNyJJf7i Apply before 11th August

In cases of sudden political transition or growing totalitarian rule, media operations often have no choice but to move outside of their home country; it’s often the only way to secure their own safety and to make sure the public still has access to independent journalism and reliable facts. For these reasons, IMS engages with exiled media and journalists, despite their immense organisational and personal challenges. IMS have assisted the establishment of media outlets in exile and supported exiled journalists from Myanmar, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, Belarus and Zimbabwe. Many are still in exile, but some have been able to return home. Read more about IMS' work with exiled media in our Annual Report 2023 https://lnkd.in/dAuqf5Fh Al-Jumhuriya Collective journalist Sara Alyakin

IMS have recently published a new gender analysis of the media landscape in Yemen, authored by Dr. Aida Al Kaisy. In a new blog Dr. Aida Al Kaisy talks about how, as a result of structural barriers, representation of women in the Yemeni media continues to be problematic. She argues that with the current crisis in the Red Sea and wider regional issues continuing to escalate, it is difficult to see how work to address patriarchal and exclusionary social attitudes and norms can prevail, without simultaneous work to address conflict and peace. Read the blog and download the report at www.mediasupport.org