20 Scholarships Available For The School of Authentic Journalism, This August in Mexico

Learn the Techniques and Strategy of Reporting on Social Movements More Effectively

By Fabiola Rocha
Director, The School of Authentic Journalism

May 15, 2017

It’s been fourteen years since the first School of Authentic Journalism united people from all over the world to imagine, think, and plan a better world.

Fabiola Rocha at The School of Authentic Journalism, Photo by Guadalupe Ramírez Barbosa, 2016

Today, organizers of the School of Authentic Journalism are happy to announce the dates for the next school, which will be between August 22-25, somewhere in Mexico.

The School of Authentic Journalism opens its doors once more to all journalists, writers, social communicators, leaders in social justice movements, community organizers, and all others who are involved in communications for social justice to be a part of an intensive four-day training in journalism techniques, nonviolent civil resistance, and how to cover social movements. The 2017 school will take place in Mexico, in the Spanish language. If you’d like an application, (which like the school, is in Spanish,) write to:
solicitud2017@authenticjournalism.org
to request one. All completed applications must be received no later than 11:59 p.m. (pacific time) Thursday, June 22.

I will tell you about the call for applications, but first, a story: the first time I heard of the School of Authentic Journalism was in the home of Al Giordano, the school’s founder. We were a part of a social movement in Mexico called #YoSoy132 (#IAm132),

Session on radio journalism taught by Abril Dávila, Photo by Guadalupe Ramírez Barbosa, 2016

which began as a way to stop Enrique Peña Nieto and the return of the PRI, the most corrupt political party in Mexico, which has gotten most of the country’s presidents elected.

In 2012, we the youth had a feeling that mainstream media were manipulating the election of Peña Nieto with a plan to give him the image of being the “best option.” It was then that I realized the only way to fight against misinformation, apathy, and indifference was to practice journalism and I decided to apply for the scholarship, which I received in 2013.

I had studied literature and theatre. Telling stories is what I most enjoy, and I adopted journalism as a way to help reconstruct the world. There are many ways to do this, as many as there are people in the world, but at the School I met many fighters for social justice that woke me up and motivated me to create goals relevant to the needs of a movement, to bring about processes of organizing to help my community, my people, and my world.

I believe that when you do something positive for someone, you also do it for yourself, so I invite you to be a part of the School where you will find people who are organizing some of the social justice movements that changed the way we see the world, like Mukhaseli “Khusta” Jack, who along with his community organized the boycott that brought down Apartheid in South Africa;

Mkhuseli “Khusta” Jack and Bill Conroy, Photo by Alejandra Collado, 2016

Mercedes Osuna, one of the most important people involved in the logistics of Zapatista territory in the 1990s, and a fighter for human rights; and there is also Renny Cushing, one of the organizers of the community civil resistance

Mercedes Osuna Teaches Safety for Journalists in Conflict Zones, Photo by Alejandra Collado, 2016

that was able to stop the development of nuclear plants in New England, United States.

We’ll also be joined by journalists and social movement participants that previously attended the school and who are now working to revolutionize the way we communicate. These people include Bill Conroy, the writer and investigative journalist from the United States; Abril Dávila, radio host and journalist in Morelos; Heather McCuen, playwright and nonviolence trainer from New York; Antonio Hernández, Mexican photographer; Maria Ines Taracena, Guatemalan journalist currently living in Tucson, Arizona; Barrett Hawes, television editor from New York; Jocelyn Quiles, actress and cultural promoter from Nayarit living in Puebla; José Olivares, journalist and media artist from Nevada; Alejandra Collado, feminist and doctoral candidate from Mexico City; Edwin Álvarez, Director of the Afro-Honduran Garifuna community radio station operated by ODECO; Leah Hennessey, New York artist and nonviolence training facilitator for anti-Trump actions; Alex Mensing, pro-migrant organizer in the U.S.; Hazel Zamora, filmmaker and journalist from Mexico City;

Ale Collado, Class of 2016, Photo by Antonio Hernández, 2016

Jonny Mendoza, community manager and social media strategist; Ingrid Cruz, U.S.-Salvadoran writer and graphic artist currently living in Buenos Aires; Greg Berger, New York born filmmaker and longtime resident of Mexico and producer of the satirical “El Joe T. Hodo Show,”; Karina González, producer, photographer, and journalist from Guanajuato; Fabiola Rocha, journalist and theatre artist from Mexico City; Al Giordano, journalist and political analyst, community organizer, and founder of The School of Authentic Journalism.

At the School we will also hold training sessions in nonviolent civil resistance in which you’ll see how all of us can learn to think strategically. You’ll learn that the creation of effective social movements is never haphazard. It takes discipline and hard work.

All of this will happen as you live side by side with people from all across the globe, who will travel to the School from every corner of the Americas and from as far away as Africa.

Here, you will learn to make video, record audio, plan an interview, write articles, use social media more strategically, and plan digital marketing for your movement. You’ll learn how to respond when someone asks: What can I do when no one is interested in my movement? There will be questions, answers, and more questions, that you’ll grapple with as you hold a mojito in your hand to keep you happy.

Since this is an intensive program, you must spend four full days with us from the morning of August 22nd until the night of August 25th, without fail. But I can assure you that time will pass quickly and you’ll want to stay longer.

This training session is unique. We don’t follow the guidelines of traditional schools. Since it’s founding in 2003, the most attractive part of our school has been that all of our professors are people active in their fields and teach from their own experiences. We know that the way to become an expert at something is by doing it, so don’t be expect to come to classes with boring professors.

Photo by Augusto Mora, 2016

We also ensure that there are just as many professors as there are scholars at our school to make the program easier for everyone. If you have any doubts, your personal advisor will help you.

The fact that the school is funded exclusively by readers and viewers of Narco News and its related projects through our annual Kickstarter campaign allows us to have the independence it takes to teach with complete freedom, to the chagrin of our powerful adversaries, but much to our rejoicing.

If everything I have said so far is meaningful to you, write to:
solicitud2017@authenticjournalism.org
You’ll need to follow the instructions we give you in the application, and return the completed document by 11:59 p.m. (pacific time) Thursday, June 22.

I look forward to your application.

Lea Ud. el Artículo en Español

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