“Until the lion has his or her own storyteller, the hunter will always have the best part of the story.” ~ Ewe-Mina (African) Proverb
Young people’s access to new media worldwide brings new and in some peoples opinions, authentic voices into the global conversation about the issues that affect all of us the most, such as: climate change, conflict, economic crisis, education disparity, access to healthcare, and food security.
While traditional media and development agencies are able to provide the world with visibility into these issues, they are only able to do so through specific lenses colored by the interests of their leadership – in the case of the media– keeping advertisers happy and maintaining ratings and with development agencies – satisfying donors requirements. The result being that the people whose lives are most affected by the issues, have traditionally been left out of the conversation, leading to policy decisions and development projects that in some instances solve the wrong problems, and ultimately do more harm than good, for those they are intended to assist.
