I learned the importance of the media to make sure things change around the world

A great collective dream emerges to keep this school going

By Sarahy Flores
School of Authentic Journalism class of 2004

April 30, 2015

Sometimes we need to believe, but if we don’t create things we have nothing to believe in.

Almost ten years ago, I met one of the best schools in the world. An itinerant place, in one of these settings where time seems to stop, because what happens there is already changing the world. Maybe you already know it, or have been to one or would like to, but everybody can be a part of this wonderful project that has grown thanks to Narco News readers.

Sarahy Flores, grad of the 2004 School of Authentic Journalism. Photo NFR

The School of Authentic Journalism emerged when the Internet was just a baby; when kickstarter type websites did not exist. Narco News created this school so that people from around the world could share their differences and work to tell the stories mainstream media wouldn’t.

So I travelled all the way to Bolivia. It was the first time I left my country and in the middle of the jungle where Che Guevara was murdered, I found the faces of the women that the army had raped in the name of the War Against Drugs. Of those women that resisted and organized even though their husbands had been murdered. I knew the community radio stations and many organizers that fought against the big transnational corporations, like Don Quixote against the windmill.

From that trip came the documentary “Chew on this” in which I learned to interview people regardless of circumstance and about heart breaking stories. I learned that there is resistance in all parts of the world, but very few speak of it. I learned the importance of making our own media to make sure things change around the world. I was 17 years old, and today, at 27 I can see with more clarity and gratitude what I learned with all the professors and scholars at the School of Authentic Journalism. Because I didn’t just learn journalism, I learned a great life lesson.

So a great collective dream emerges to keep this school going. But this will only be possible with your donations: big or small, it doesn’t matter. Know that you are a basic part of this project, and that every time that a story is published or a video is released you were part of its making.

Join the Kickstarter campaign or go to authenticjournalism.org to learn more about the school.

Thank you, dear readers.

Lea Ud. el Artículo en Español

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