Madeleine Bair

Citizen Journalism

Empowering Marginalized Communities through Media & DOCUMENTING HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH EYEWITNESS REPORTS

The ability of everyday citizens to document their communities has presented new possibilities and challenges for human rights documentation and advocacy. Since 2011 I have worked to empower traditional human rights advocates as well as citizens and activists around the world to use citizen journalism and eyewitness media to make an impact. I have led trainings, developed guidance, and with the human rights organization, WITNESS, led a pioneering program curating eyewitness videos from around the world to not only expose under-reported stories of injustice, but to understand how average citizens and the technology they use can contribute to more effective documentation of human rights.

Projects

El Tímpano: Collaborative, Local, Spanish-language Reporting

In collaboration with the Listening Post Collective of Internews, I led an assessment of the information needs of Oakland's Latino immigrants. I met with leaders of two-dozen community organizations, facilitated listening sessions with engaged residents, and surveyed dozens of Latino immigrants to understand how they access news and information and engage in civic conversations, and identify gaps and opportunities. Click here to view our report, "Más Información: An Information Needs Assessment of Latino Immigrants in Oakland California." Learn more at www.eltimpano.org.  

Watching Western Sahara

Watching Western Sahara is a platform for curated and contextualized eyewitness footage from Western Sahara, developed as a collaboration between the WITNESS Media Lab and the FiSahara Film Festival in early 2016. The project aims to bridge the gap between international human rights monitors and at-risk Sahrawi journalists and human rights defenders filming within Western Sahara, a territory that has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. Due to Morocco's restrictions on local media and regular denial of entry to foreign correspondents and international advocates, online videos by Sahrawis offer rare documentation for the outside world to see.  

Ethical Guidelines for Using Eyewitness video in Human Rights Reporting and Advocacy

I served as lead author of this peer-reviewed WITNESS resource—the first comprehensive guidelines addressing the ethical considerations of using eyewitness footage of human rights abuse. (PDF link)

Human Rights Channel

The twice Webby-nominated initiative was the first YouTube video channel dedicated to curating eyewitness footage of human rights abuses from around the world. As Program Manager, I also analyzed the evolving role that eyewitness video played in exposing injustice, and developed guidelines for media activists, journalists, and human rights professionals on filming and using eyewitness footage safely and effectively.