I Want to Be a Full Time Authentic Journalist

“Attending the School of Authentic Journalism Will Help Me Report on Social Change at the Source”

By Aoife Allen
Class of 2011, School of Authentic Journalism

April 29, 2011

I am a Dubliner by birth, and have lived in Ramallah, Palestine and London over the past four years. In Palestine, I worked for a women’s rights and peace-building organisation, documenting house demolitions and land seizures in the West Bank, and helping Palestinian women to engage in social activism and defend their rights. I recently completed an Master’s degree in Violence, Conflict and Development at the University of London and want to put it to work in conjunction with my background in and passion for writing. Having most recently worked as a press officer for Liberty, England and Wales’ most influential domestic human rights campaigning group, I am now embarking on a career as a full time authentic journalist.

Aoife Allen

My motivation is the ongoing erosion of innovation and independence in news reporting by a rising tide of commercialisation of the industry, which shuts down small and independent newspapers and agencies. This equates to fewer outlets available to community organizers and social movements the world over to document their struggles and tell their stories to a wider audience. Recent and ongoing political change across the Middle East and North Africa has demonstrated that mainstream reporting of social movements is often inaccurate and clumsily interpreted through a “Western” lens. However, it also demonstrates the rise and rise of a new journalism, with local bloggers and online reporters proving to be the most authentic sources of up-to-date news and analysis as political change unfolds.

I am going to be based in Central America over the coming years and attending the School of Authentic Journalism will develop the skills I need to investigate and report on grassroots social and political change at the source, as it happens. The School is offering me an incredible opportunity and I will honour it by pursuing and reporting the truth with a conscience and integrity.

Please make a donation today, online, at this link:

http://www.authenticjournalism.org

Or you can make a check out to:

The Fund for Authentic Journalism
PO Box 1446
Easthampton, MA 01027 USA

The School of Authentic Journalism and Narco News counter the monopolisation of the news industry, but need ongoing support from defenders of real news to do so. Please continue to support this unique, crucial programme, which develops some of the most honest and authentic writers of our generation.

Yours in solidarity,
Aoife Allen

Lea Ud. el Artículo en Español

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