OneWorld launches TV web portal
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PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release OneWorld TV - A New Concept for Online Video Developing Public Participation in Making Video Stories OneWorld TV (www.oneworld.net/tv) is pioneering a new way of using video on the Internet by building online interactive TV that encourages ordinary people to get involved in producing documentaries and stories on the issues of the day. This radical approach marries the power of video with unique online tools for collaborative storytelling giving the potential to represent complex issues in a much more powerful way than at present. "The future for video on the web is all about the immediacy of raw clips from filmmakers themselves. For us, it means people on the frontline of human rights stories who have a camcorder and can access the Internet to place their footage on OneWorld TV," says Peter Armstrong, Director of One World International and for 20 years an award-winning filmmaker for the BBC. On the eve of a trip to the USA to build key partnerships with individuals and organisations Jo Hill, OneWorld TV multimedia producer, spoke of the great challenge this new venture gives to those who take part: "Video offers a powerful medium that more and more people can use. We have devised a format that prompts users to explore stories about climate change, AIDS or the Middle East conflict in a totally new and interactive way." In developing this unique 'open documentary' software, OneWorld TV encourages contributors in different countries to upload their own stories to the site and to add clips to other people's stories as part of this new collaborative approach to storytelling online. OneWorld TV has been developing links with a growing community of filmmakers, video journalists and other contributors around the world. Their input is vital to put in place each piece of the OneWorld TV global jigsaw. Interactivity is the key to the process, not only in enabling producers to edit and upload coverage from their laptop wherever they might be, but also in offering the user a unique experience whereby he or she can choose their own path through a given story landscape. Watching OneWorld TV at its recent London BAFTA launch renowned film director Mike Figgis concluded: "OneWorld TV is an impressive response to a global media system that all too often is filtering out both innovation in film-making and the wider communication of social issues to citizens around world. If you are a filmmaker concerned about what's going on in our world today, add your stories to OneWorld TV and join this radical network at the cutting edge of technology and social change." One organisation that has already seen the possibilities OneWorld TV offers is Amnesty International. Their video reports investigating recent events in the West Bank have been uploaded to the site. Amnesty's Dan Thurley says: "OneWorld TV is an exciting new space for NGOs, video activists and filmmakers to take video and human rights out onto the web. It combines the Internet and digital cameras in the fight to save lives and reduce human suffering." Gaza-based filmmaker Tamer Mansour said: "OneWorld TV enables me to tell the stories that you never see on the news - stories from the frontline about people here waiting for a chance for peace to come." Amir Terkel, an Israeli filmmaker based in San Francisco said: "As someone working to bring out the voices of peace and coexistence in our region overlooked by mainstream media, OneWorld TV is a vital window to the world. - ends - Contact: In UK: Jo Hill, tel: +44 (0)20 7091 4541, media@oneworld.net In USA: Mike Litz, (OneWorld US, Washington D.C.) Tel. + 1 (202) 454 5603 Notes: 1. OneWorld is a non-profit network that aims to harness the democratic potential of the Internet to promote sustainable development and human rights. Its website, www.oneworld.net, is the world's leading portal on social justice and a gateway to over 1, 250 partner non-governmental organisations (NGOs) worldwide. 2. Individuals and organisations who would like to contribute video stories or become a member of the OneWorld TV community, should contact Jo Hill, email: tv@oneworld.net, tel + 44 (0)20 7091 4545. See Background Q & A on OneWorld TV |
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