Even the smallest voices can make a big impact. You can transform the lives of children and youth around the world by helping them to discover their voice, share their stories, and provide their communities with the news and information they need. Internews trains youth in citizen journalism, creates platforms for dialogue and enables informed debate, which bring about social and economic progress.
Nearly half of the world's population is under the age of 25, and youth are by far the most avid consumers of media. Yet, youth are marginalized from fully participating in media and influencing its content. Particularly in nascent media cultures and opening political environments, youth voices are essential in helping the community imagine and plan for its future. Yet there are too few outlets for youth to express their opinions and concerns, and address pressing issues in their communities.
When young people are empowered to produce stories, run newsrooms, and create digital content, amazing things can happen. Internews programs strengthen the presence of the young voice and agenda in media, and create a source of objective information on life in their communities beyond the scope of politics or even violence. You can empower and enable these young journalists by giving them the tools and resources that they might not otherwise be exposed to.
The future of media and communications is in the hands of today's youth. What these voices will sound like, the struggles they will likely face, and ultimately, the impact they will have in advancing the freedom of information all over the world, depends on how we enable and support them today. By giving a voice to all people, particularly youth and the marginalized members of society - we can deliver lifesaving information to people in crisis, remedy inequalities in society, and much more.
