FALL 2013 RESEARCH
proposing a media business for NGOs

THE PEACE OUT MEDIA BUSINESS PROPOSAL
Below is an excerpt from the introduction section of my fall research paper, which was embodied as a media business proposal. It is the most accurate sum of what inspired my "Peace Out" idea then and what continues to motivate me today.

Has there been a moment in life when you asked yourself, “Am I actually in a movie right now?”

One of the few times this resonated for me was in a hill village outside of Kandy, Sri Lanka.

I was bracing myself with a firm grip on a truck handle above my head as the Toyota lurched and climbed the roller coaster of a dirt road. I was sitting beside the international coordinator for Sarvodaya Shramadana and the founder of Project Sri Lanka, a professor from the U.K.

Between head bumps and palm branches slapping our arms through the window, Professor Joy handed back her card and encouraged me to visit the PSL website. She then said one sentence that transformed my experience, career aspirations and present research into one idea.

In her charming British accent, she said “We have someone who manages our website and media accounts full time with updates, because I believe that is the only way to be successful today in this type of work.”

No, it may not be as profound as one expected, but it is critical and an unforgettable moment of my month long experience as a non-government organization (NGO) media researcher and volunteer.

Professor Joy is a Western woman who has years of experience in grassroots work and who is an active bridge between donors of the projects and the ground level effort required to implement those projects, particularly drinking water wells for rural Sri Lankan villages.

She knows the key to sustaining channels between donors and development groups is to create an online presence for investors to see. This virtual interaction confirms the existence and quality of work that would be done with their money. In today’s world, an online brand or image is validation to those who work within a modern society.

If development NGOs don’t have the access, skills and resources needed to create their own effective online platform, they are guaranteed to lose attention and the ability to attract other donors or volunteers. 

My field experience confirmed this and that journalists could network within NGOs while analyzing NGOs’ own forms of peace journalism. Those weeks working for Sarvodaya and meeting other organization leaders like Professor Joy, revealed new dynamics to peace journalism that I had not yet discovered.

The beauty of Peace Journalism is it’s an alternative genre, so it’s experimental, boundless and virtually undocumented. And now, I recognize how that openness can be utilized to better grow development work.

From brainstorming how to transform organizations’ online presence bloomed the idea of a platform that could provide NGOs the online brand needed to sustain donorship as well as create an outlet for peace journalists to publish their work and expand their ground level networks.

The answer is a media company that would...
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For more, I invite you to continue reading my Peace Out proposal below, and to contact me with any questions or interests regarding Peace Journalism or my experience. Thank you for sharing this journey with me.