Turn the Mic Around: Conversations with Journalists and Technologists on the Frontlines

"Everyone deserves trustworthy news and information."

This series of podcasts features conversations with journalists working on the front lines around the world. Interviews explore behind-the-scenes stories of journalists doing their work in challenging situations as they seek to deliver trustworthy information to communities that need it most. Topics address, for example, challenges in relation to gender, the environment, conflicts, elections, COVID-19 and health, and media viability. The series is produced by Internews, a non-profit organisation that supports independent media and the free flow of information in over 100 countries worldwide.

The podcasts, which are on average around 28-30 minutes long, are hosted mainly by Internews President, Jeanne Bourgault. To date, the episodes are as follows:

• The Fight Against Gendered Disinformation [March 2023] - Digital platforms were once hailed as tools for protecting human rights and defending democracy. Today, that narrative has changed - as the impacts of social-media-generated disinformation, polarisation, and violence are experienced by communities worldwide. In this scenario, women journalists, activists, and politicians are often the target of malicious campaigns of gendered disinformation. This episode looks at the dynamics behind this problem, as well as some of the potential solutions. The interviewee is Lucina Di Meco, the co-founder of #ShePersisted and the author of multiple studies on gendered disinformation, the latest of which is Monetizing Misogyny.
• A Year of War on Ukraine's Free Press [February 2023] - This episode features an interview with three Ukrainian reporters and media professionals to discuss a year of immense loss, violence, and resilience - and to learn more about how the free Ukrainian press is protecting truth and hope.
• Brazil Elections: A Test for Democracy [October 2022] - In this episode, Jeanne Bourgault interviews Paulo Mota, Brazilian data scientist and elections analyst, just ahead of the Brazilian elections. Polinho believes in and works for the democratisation of technologies made by free people.
• Dishing The Truth: How Conflict, Climate & COVID-19 Impact Food Systems [July 2022] - Crises from conflict to climate change and COVID-19 threaten our global food systems, with potentially devastating consequences for human, animal, and environmental health. This episode features an interview with Thin Lei Win, an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Rome, Italy, who focuses on food and climate issues. She produces a weekly newsletter called Thin Ink. The interview explores the global food shortage and how journalists can better cover it.
• Inoculating Against the Infodemic: How Journalists Counter COVID Myths [June 2022] - In this episode, Jeanne Bourgault sits down with Graziella Almendral del Rio to discuss the causes and solutions to the COVID-19 "infodemic". Graziella is the author of "Vaccines: When Human Beings Won the Invisible War" and is a commentator on Spanish TV, providing daily analysis of COVID-19 and vaccines. She is also President of the 700-member Spanish Association of Health Specialist Journalists.
• Journalists in Ukraine: The Latest on the Battle Against Disinformation [April 2022] - Featuring an interview with Galyna Petrenko, this episode discusses the state of independent media in Ukraine, how journalists are continuing to report, and how media outlets are fighting back against disinformation. Galyna is a seasoned journalist, an expert on countering disinformation, and the director of the Ukrainian nonprofit Detector Media.
• Representation Matters: Increasing Women's Visibility in the News Media [March 2022] - Zofeen Ebrahim, an independent journalist from Pakistan, discusses how gender representation matters, and how inclusive perspectives in the media improve journalistic storytelling.
• Missing From the Story: News Deserts in American Media [February 2022] - What happens when media options serving a local community are reduced to zero? News deserts leave neighbourhoods devoid of information that residents rely upon to make informed choices and hold local leaders accountable. In this episode, guest speaker E'Jaaz Mason, Program Director of LEDE New Orleans, discusses the causes of news deserts and ideas for fostering vibrant, local information ecosystems.
• Media Viability & the Future of Independent News [January 2022] - How do media outlets in freedom-restricted markets survive and thrive? Where should they and their stakeholders focus resources to become more successful? Although thinking in the media development sector about sustainability has progressed in recent years, expertise is still in the hands of relatively few successful media outlets and specialists, which limits the potential reach and impact of their expertise. One of the White House announcements during the recent Summit for Democracy was the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s commitment to establishing a Media Viability Accelerator (MVA). In this episode, Churchill Otieno, Head of Development (Nation.Africa) at Nation Media Group & President of Kenya Editors' Guild, discusses media financial sustainability and how the MVA can benefit independent news.
• Helping Journalists Translate Vaccine Science [November 2021] - Conversations about vaccines are often ripe with mis/disinformation and often revolve around opinions instead of actual science. In an environment where rumours can easily become strongly-held opinions, journalists are needed to translate vaccine science in ways that answer their questions and address their doubts. In this episode, the guest speaker is Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, a doctor-turned journalist based in Chennai, India, and co-author of "Let's Talk Vaccines", an online course that helps journalists navigate ongoing developments in the vaccine story, helping to translate science into compelling journalism.
• Demanding Environmental Accountability Around the Globe [October 2021] - As science, politics, and actions surrounding climate stewardship evolve, so does the role of journalists and the impact of climate media. Climate media has become a critical component to achieving environmental stability, from holding polluters accountable to aligning real-time coverage of the effects of climate change with proposed policy reforms. In this episode, Jodie Ginsberg of Internews CEO Europe interviews journalist and Internews Fellow Fredrick Mugira to explore the changing roles of climate journalists and the impact of climate media. Mugira is Water Journalists Africa's Founder and Managing Director and is an award-winning water and climate change journalist.