Future:Media:Change

Two “outreach bloggers” were selected via a competition process among Australian bloggers, the winners Joel Katz and Sharna Bremner will be heading out to Bangladesh to work directly with people living in the slums in Dhaka, both blogging about their personal experience as well as setting up facilities and training community members on how to use social media, audio, video and blogging to share their stories.

More troops or not more troops, that is the question the international media has been obsessed with for weeks. As Obama announces the deployment of at least 30.000 more troops, ordinary Afghans are concerned that this will only mean more conflict in and around their villages. Will their voices be heard through the media maelstrom?

The End of Poverty was released in NYC cinemas this week in select cities. The ambitious documentary tackles the most pressing moral challenge of our time: Why is there still poverty in a world of plenty? While offering solid intellectual explanations about the origins and persistence of poverty, the movie misses the mark on executing the type of story telling that makes film a powerful medium to inspire new audiences.