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| Organizational History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Research Journalism Initiative (RJI) was founded in 2002 by Mark Turner, an American human rights observer working in the West Bank. As an activist, Turner accompanied emergency relief volunteers providing medicine, food, supplies and other services to Palestinian civilians during periods of military imposed curfew within the city of Nablus, its nearby refugee camps and the outlying villages within the region. Upon returning to the United States, Turner was active in educational efforts including multimedia presentations to high school students about the situation within Nablus and other areas of the West Bank. These regular presentations evolved into a formal cooperation with several secondary schools. In December 2007, Turner returned to the West Bank. His goals were to produce a series of educational documentary video and radio newsreels about the situation in the West Bank and to conduct live video conferences between Palestinian university students and American high school students. To access the expanding archive of educational material, RJI established a workable website interface for teachers and students. In February 2007, RJI volunteers filmed and produced a series of short documentary films concerning the Israeli operation, dubbed “Hot Winter,” in the West Bank city of Nablus. During the days-long operation, RJI completed five short films, including an interview with Jihan Tahedush, an eleven-year-old girl used by the Israeli military as a human shield. Volunteers brought the interview to the attention of the Israeli media, which led to investigations into this illegal practice by the Israeli military, and human rights organizations B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch. In April 2007, RJI began a partnership with An Najah National University in Nablus. Through a series of workshops, RJI volunteers began helping Palestinian journalism students present their work and ideas in English and communicate their perspectives directly to Western audiences. The Palestinian group was comprised of twenty students with an equal number of male and female participants and met in regular sessions three times a week. The valuable experience and lessons learned throughout this pilot period helped RJI tailor its strategy to facilitate the development of Palestinian student media. As noted by then Director of the Department of Journalism at An Najah National University, Dr. Samar Shunnar, “RJI’s series of workshops and videoconferences give our students a valuable opportunity to gain work experience, communicate directly with American students and express themselves about their reality.” |
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| The Nablus Open Media Center | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Research Journalism Initiative provides tools to teachers and students who are learning about socio-economic, religious and geopolitical conflict by establishing a direct link between students in the United States and students in a region of conflict abroad. The program exposes American youths to elements of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict not usually discussed as a part of the formal educational system and allows them to process their fears, anger and suspicions in an open environment. RJI staff living in the West Bank work with Palestinian students to produce film, radio, photographic and print media. Establishing the Nablus Open Media Center (NOMC) is RJI’s next step in its effort to develop a sustainable, permanent media training and production facility in the West Bank. At the Nablus Open Media Center, experienced Palestinian and international media professionals will facilitate workshops in advanced film, radio and photography production and post-production techniques. Palestinian students at the NOMC will produce documentary films, radio broadcasts and photographic exhibitions that are archived and made available to US educators online. Teachers will be able to download content and discuss themes with their students in an educational, critical environment. American students who have viewed RJI’s educational media commonly encounter questions they had not yet considered. The NOMC will provide them a forum to engage the subjects and producers of these media directly via live, Internet videoconferencing. These dialogues give students the opportunity to evaluate perspectives and bias in an environment where critical thinking, honest connections and personal relationships contribute compassion to global awareness in ways not available through traditional broadcast media. In addition, staff at the NOMC work to improve Palestinian university students’ employment opportunities in an international media environment by providing production equipment, career development resources and assistance to students expanding their portfolios of internationally published media. |
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| National Tour | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
International human rights activist, Mark Turner has recently returned from a nine-month stay in Balata Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. During his stay, Mark volunteered with medical relief crews during two major Israeli military invasions and documented scores of other military operations in and around Nablus and its refugee camps. Mark’s films helped to bring international attention to the continued, illegal use of human shields by the Israeli military in the West Bank, including an incident in which soldiers kidnapped an eleven-year-old girl and forced her to lead them into neighboring homes. Turner is currently touring the United States, presenting his experiences and analysis of the developing situation in Occupied Palestine. Click here for: Schedule of Events For more information about Mark and the Research Journalism Initiative, or to invite Mark to speak in your area, please contact: Mark Turner, RJI International Director |
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| Frequently Asked Questions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Research Journalism Initiative
