Global Voices - An Important Source of Relevant World News

Since the advent of social media, we have entered a new era of journalism and news reporting that relies as much on individual voices as on large media networks. These networks pick and choose what is aired and often have a bias for American news, which leaves many people in the dark when it comes to important global issues. 

One of the primary organizations working against this trend is Global Voices, which has more than 1,000 volunteers around the world covering underreported, yet important stories. Since its inception, Global Voices has forged partnerships with established news sources, such as Slate and The Guardian, to expand its reach. 

So-called citizen journalism will become increasingly important as a source of real, meaningful news in years to come, but organizations like Global Voices need the help of news consumers to stay viable. Currently, Global Voices makes a small profit from a translation agency that it runs, and it also receives grants. However, if this and similar organizations are going to expand, they will need support from their readers. 

Individuals need to think about the type of news they like to consume and actively support the media outlets they find most meaningful. In this way, they will play a role in ensuring that important global stories are heard.

Exploring the ICEBERG Project at the Murrow Center for a Digital World

Since 1965, the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at Tufts University has preserved the legacy of its namesake through innovative media research and thought leadership. Carrying Murrow’s groundbreaking work in the realms of media, technology, and public diplomacy into the 21st century, the center attempts to glean new insights into how the digital revolution is driving broader societal changes. It pursues this goal via a combination of educational events and workshops, robust public communications, and research. 

Through a project known as ICEBERG, the Murrow Center aims to combat the increasingly compartmentalized nature of the media and online communities. Even as technology spurs the development of a more globalized, connected world, factors such as news-organization business models and social media algorithms have turned many individuals’ media experiences into an echo chamber. This trend has driven nationalistic tendencies and a general lack of international understanding within the global community.

ICEBERG is a comparative news analysis platform designed to address this issue by compiling diverse news, analysis, and opinions from leading minds around the world. By presenting comparative analyses of varied ideas on an innovative online platform, the Murrow Center intends to engage the public with the diverse voices impacting international events.

Developed in conjunction with digital design firm Charming Robot and numerous partners from the academic and media sectors, ICEBERG is currently in its alpha test stage. This experimental effort, overseen by former NPR foreign editor John Felton, will focus on human security and operate out of leading academic and research institutions throughout the United States and Europe.

The Al Jazeera Center for Studies - An International Think Tank

Established in 2006, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies is a think tank operating as an offshoot of the Al Jazeera Media Network. Through in-depth research and analysis focused on both regional and global current affairs, the center provides insight that not only serves Al Jazeera’s vast international operations, which span more than 140 countries, but also seeks to inform society at large. 

As an extension of a multinational news media organization based in the Middle East, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies leverages its unique perspective on the region’s cultural and sociopolitical climate to focus primarily on geopolitical events in Arab regions. It seeks to provide timely information that promotes a global understanding of current events, drawing on the efforts of a global network of subject experts and research professionals. As the center brings together great minds from around the world, it aims to promote similar connections within the public, working toward mutual understanding and cooperation among cultures. 

Since its inception, the Al Jazeera Center for Studies has developed a global reputation for providing accurate and timely research that upholds rigorous academic standards. For three years, the center ranked sixth among more than 500 organizations in the American University of Pennsylvania’s annual world index of research centers. In January 2016, the institution announced that the Al Jazeera Center had advanced to the fifth spot.

Maintaining Base Business Momentum during Mergers and Acquisitions

When organizations undergo mergers and acquisitions, some processes must by necessity fall by the wayside as their energy goes into ensuring a successful transition. However, management must maintain momentum in the meantime. If either of the base businesses suffers, then the future of the new company will be at risk.

Typically, a CEO needs to spend the majority of his or her time focused on existing customers and on maintaining momentum by encouraging close monitoring, setting targets, and providing incentives. Altogether, about 90 percent of the employees of both organizations should be focused on maintaining the baseline and communicating to customers and stakeholders as to what to expect as the transition takes place. Bundling communications to both parties in the same package can boost confidence all around by keeping the message consistent. 

Metrics to keep an eye on during integration include employee retention, sales leads, and call center volume. By following these metrics closely, companies can preempt issues to ensure that the business of both companies remains stable following the transition.

A Look at the Balanced Scorecard Methodology

A management system developed by Richard Kaplan and David Norton, the balanced scorecard methodology is fundamentally a value-based management philosophy. The approach highlights four specific elements of success. A company can advance its vision and strategy by focusing on these four elements, which must be carefully balanced with each other.

The first is the financial perspective, which asks how the company should appear to shareholders to continue garnering support. Included in this perspective is traditional financial data. The second is the customer perspective, which focuses on how customers perceive the company and the image that it wants to portray. Companies need to focus on customer satisfaction to achieve success.

The third element is the internal business perspective. Shareholders have certain expectations, and it is important to identify the business processes involved in meeting them. The final element is the learning and growth perspective, as leaders must figure out how to sustain change and improve over time. Employee training is vital for success in this area. This perspective also involves creating a supportive corporate culture.

Edward R. Murrow - A Fearless Voice in American Journalism

In his two decades of experience, media strategist and executive Ehab Al Shihabi has worked as a consultant to major international corporations, media organizations, and cable networks. Currently an advisor to the director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, he accepted his first position with the company in 2006 and went on to serve as a driving force behind the establishment of Al Jazeera America. Ehab Al Shihabi has also served as Al Jazeera’s executive director of international operations with responsibility for overseeing the work of dozens of news bureaus. 

Today, Mr. Al Shihabi also holds a senior fellowship with the Edward R. Murrow Center for a Digital World at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. The Center’s namesake, one of the most noted American journalists of the 20th century, is perhaps best remembered for his dramatic live broadcasts as a witness to history during the years of World War II. 

Mr. Murrow, who died shortly after his 57th birthday in 1965, was widely renowned as a courageous and outspoken defender of free speech. He even took on Senator Joseph McCarthy by issuing a report dedicated to exposing the anti-Communist politician’s questionable tactics during the “Red Scare” years of the 1950s.

Mr. Murrow hosted the television program Person to Person for seven years before accepting President John F. Kennedy’s appointment as director of the United States Information Agency in 1961.

Al Jazeera America Leaves behind Award-Winning Legacy

Although Al Jazeera America ended its operations in April 2016, the media organization made a significant mark on the landscape of the American news media. Under the leadership of CEO Ehab Al Shihabi, the television network established 12 bureaus in the United States and partnered with a number of cable companies. Al Jazeera America was instrumental in elevating the reputation of Al Jazeera in the United States and establishing the international news provider as an organization dedicated to hard-hitting, objective journalism. The network’s legacy includes The Limits of Hope: Inside Obama’s White House, a four-part documentary comprising exclusive interviews with President Obama and his closest advisors, as well as highly acclaimed programs such as Fault Lines and America Tonight Presents.

Reflecting on the network’s lifetime, The Wall Street Journal noted its distinction from typical broadcast news organizations, citing its commitment to investigative journalism and lack of sensationalism as factors that set it apart and earned it numerous accolades from the journalism community. The more than 70 professional honors received by Al Jazeera America included an International Emmy and multiple Peabody Awards. In addition to earning these awards, the network’s dedication to impact journalism influenced public discourse throughout the U.S., as Al Jazeera America was one of the first news outlets to report on matters such as the public water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

Malaria No More Honors Corporate and Media Supporters

In 2014, the international nonprofit Malaria No More (MNM) honored Al Jazeera America with its Media Leader Award in recognition of the network’s efforts to highlight the disease as a major health challenge facing the global community. The organization, which presented the accolade at its annual fundraising gala, also took the opportunity to recognize Alere with its Corporate Citizenship Award for its dedicated support of MNM initiatives.

The support of organizations such as Alere and Al Jazeera America is crucial to MNM’s mission to end malaria fatalities in the current generation. Since 2006, the nonprofit has worked to bolster malaria prevention and education in nations most heavily affected by the disease. MNM established the Power of One campaign to provide critical malaria treatment for just $1 to patients in Zambia and spearheaded the first distribution of full-coverage mosquito nets in Senegal. In Cameroon, MNM educational initiatives have prompted over 500,000 people to use mosquito nets, and in Kenya, the nonprofit’s educational and advocacy campaigns promote malaria prevention in both the public and governmental spheres.

Malaria No More Receives High-Profile Publicity

Malaria No More, an international nonprofit, has recently benefited from high-profile publicity in promoting its work to fight malaria deaths. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray wore the organization’s UK logo on the sleeve of his shirts during his winning run in the 2016 Wimbledon tournament and told the press that he has supported the charity for seven years. Murray noted that more than 800 children die from malaria, which is contracted through a mosquito bite, every day.

Ongoing efforts to fund and publicize the fight against malaria have made a difference, according to Malaria No More. Deaths from the disease have been reduced by 60 percent since 2000. The nonprofit regularly recognizes leaders who are helping to end malaria. For example, in 2014, it honored Ehab Alshihabi, Al Jazeera America for raising awareness about the disease through outstanding journalism.

President Barack Obama, in recent remarks to Canada’s House of Commons, commented on the millions of dollars in U.S. funding allocated for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria: “We can banish the scourge of malaria,” he said. In response, Malaria No More praised the United States’ commitment to prioritizing the fight against malaria and providing resources.

"Nano" Journalism Focuses on Untold Stories

As major news groups around the world reduce their coverage of foreign affairs, niche organizations and citizen journalists are telling global stories that are reshaping readers’ understanding of the world. In an editorial in the Huffington Post, Ehab Al Shihabi wrote that we are in the “nano” news age, when small news organizations are getting to important stories first, focusing their coverage on niches that include human rights, politics, and the environment.

Mr. Al Shihabi noted that smaller news outlets have been the first to cover stories such as Beijing’s tightening-down on China’s version of Donald Trump.

To gain traction in the market, these nano news outlets take a variety of approaches, from providing prospective subscribers with free trials to soliciting donations from readers.

“There is growing evidence that if we create content that is unique and a voice that is sui generis (unique), people are willing to pay for it,” Jui Chakravorty, a former Reuters journalist, said in a press interview. “Still, it’s an uphill battle.”

Ehab Al Shihabi, Al Jazeera

Ehab Al Shihabi on the Hunger for Quality Journalism

Ehab Al Shihabi talks to genConnect about how the 'hunger for quality journalism' is what's inspiring the new network.