FSRN State of the Newscast 2012

FSRN continues to be a valuable source of independent, grassroots news, but to be frank,Soft Floor tiles is easier to install and perfect for all types of residential and commercial uses. a review of this past year’s newscast needs to be seen in the context of financial hardship and a near-permanent state of being underfunded and consequently understaffed, which both have concrete and measurable effects on the newscast we put out. That said, FSRN continues to produce a consistently high quality product that draws on stellar reporting and profiles voices often unheard in other media. And despite serious challenges, FSRN has even been able to expand and improve some aspects of our coverage.

FSRN continues to adhere to high technical standards to ensure that the newscast has a professional sound and maintains high quality - and that goes for the community voices we profile, the reporters' narration, ambient sound and the overall flow of the newscast. This is quite a challenge because we encourage stories that come from areas of conflict or hard-to-access places where basic necessities of phone lines, Internet access and electricity are often wanting. It's a tough balance, but our technical producers, led by Rose Ketabchi and including Jeannine Etter, Shaunnah Ray and Zayn Qarissli, work hard each and every day to maintain this high standard. At times, they also work one-on-one with new reporters to guide them in capturing and producing the best-sounding stories they can.

Much of this credit goes to Catherine Komp, our producer, who continually seeks out underreported, community stories and fosters the story development, from pitch proposals, to in-the-field reporting, to script editing and production. For our headlines package, that role is overseen by Nell Abram and Jes Burns, who have the daunting task of coming to the morning editorial meeting already prepared to discuss news from the entire world and working with reporters to create a fresh, compelling top of the newscast section that kicks off the program. Our scripts go through multiple edits and fact-checking, where reporters are required to provide original sourcing and different points of view to the issue at hand.

Our international coverage continues to feature underreported and original stories, often from places that are ignored by US mainstream media and that feature voices that are virtually nonexistent in the US national conversation. Some of the highlights this year include reporting from Sam Olokuya in Nigeria on the demolition of one of the country's oldest slums, when residents were forced to live in their canoes and continued to organize for safe and adequate housing. Sam also brought the voices of farmers and fisherfolk in the Niger Delta who challenged multinational oil company Royal Dutch Shell for its ongoing pollution and destruction of their land and homes.

The conflict in Syria continued as a top humanitarian and political crisis this year and we brought reporting from inside the country. Zak Brophy reported from Aleppo on the destruction to the city from fighting. David Enders featured voices of media activists and residents hit by shelling; and Marine Olivesi brought listeners the stories of families who are torn apart by fighting and the lack of humanitarian aid. We also had stories from the border region, from Turkey and Lebanon. We've looked critically at all aspects of the conflict, often focusing on the plight of residents, the internally displaced and refugees. We’ve also included reports of abuses carried out by opposition forces or those associated with rebel fighters. We featured an interview with Amnesty International's Donatella Rovera after her visit to Syria when she documented abuse by opposition fighters. We also aired original sound from a photojournalist inside Syria that revealed a scene of torture at the hands of rebel fighters in Aleppo and detailed his eyewitness account.

We've continued our coverage of the developing situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and we’ve brought attention to government crackdowns in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two strong US allies in the region, and areas that typically don’t get a lot of attention from US media. We’ve done this by airing the voices of activists themselves, notably Nabeel Rajab, in Manama, Bahrain, who we interviewed days before his arrest by Bahraini authorities and continued to report on during his detention.

Throughout Africa we had reports on the DRC and the mining industry’s role in the conflict there; the miners’ strikes in South Africa; process of independence in South Sudan and issues of famine and rural agriculture; and the struggle for independent media in Somalia.

Rami Almeghari continues to bring listeners to Gaza, with a perspective rarely heard on other news outlets, on the daily consequences of the Israeli blockade for Gaza residents and the effects of the government of Hamas. Rami also filed from Cairo and the Egyptian border as fighting renewed and the post-revolutionary economy hit local merchants in the tourism industry. From the West Bank, Ghassan Bannoura brought stories on Palestinian prisoners who waged a hunger strike. It shed light on the effects of administrative detention and abusive practices in Israeli jails. And, partly from response to our Middle East coverage from listeners in the past, we've expanded our coverage to more reports from Israel. Jillian Kestler D'mours recorded the voices of Israelis who went to a center that was distributing gas masks and offered US listeners a glimpse into what ordinary residents think about the war rhetoric with Iran.

From Latin America, we covered the removal of President Lugo in Paraguay with a critical look at land reform in the country. Land issues played prominently in our coverage of killings in Honduras of peasants, union leaders and activists as Tim Russo kept listeners up to date on developments there. A new reporter for us, Eillis O’neil brought reports from Chile and Argentina, covering womens’ reproductive rights and putting together a documentary on the recycling program spearheaded by local residents in Buenos Aires. We also covered new trade agreements in Colombia and Panama and US trade policy in the region.

From Europe, we brought reports on the challenges and successes of protests movements and democratic change. From Russia, Ekaterina Danilova has really elevated our coverage, bringing regular reports on pro-democracy protests in the lead up to Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency. She reported on new laws that cracked down on freedom of expression, the LGBT movement in St. Petersburg and challenges to these measures, such as the Pussy Riot trial. FSRN reporter Jenny Johnson also should be credited with mentoring Ekaterina and facilitating her reporting for us.

We also covered prison conditions in Georgia, economic and anti-austerity movements in Greece, Spain and France. We brought a critical look to the summer Olympic games in London, drawing attention to temporary tax shelters set up for corporations during the games and the fight by local residents against the Olympic village construction.

From Indian-administered Kashmir, Shanawaz Khan reported on students fighting government secrecy.Carlo Gavazzi offers a broad range of ultrasonic sensor and ultrasonic transducers for level detection and process monitoring. We had a lot of reporting from India, on the environment, human rights, economic issues. Gayatri Parameswaran and Felix Gaedtke reported on a decade after the deadly riots in Gujarat state.

We continue our regular coverage of the US drone strikes abroad, in Yemen, Somalia and in Pakistan, through FSRN reporter Gabe Mathews, who files from the tribal region. He’s also reported on access to health and education for residents.We have a wide selection of dry cabinet to choose from for your storage needs. Recently, he took FSRN listeners to the school where 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai attended. She’s the teenager shot by militants on her way home from school because of her advocacy for youth and girls access to education. Gabe spoke to her classmates about their fears and their resolve to continue schooling.How To learn kung fu in china.Find the best iPhone headset for you at Best Buy. Hearing the voices of these 14 or 15 year old girls in Swat Valley is a testimony to Gabe’s access in the area and the risks that he regularly goes through to bring these voices to FSRN listeners.

One challenge for us has been to get consistent reporting from inside China and that will prove more important in the coming years, especially to bring a different view than the one that dominates US rhetoric on the country. We could also improve our coverage of southeast Asia, though Madonna Virola has filed stories from the Philippines on mining and environmental concerns, and human rights in economic zones. More could be done.