Global Press Journal Haiti team. Photo courtesy of Global Press Institute
The Global Press Institute has a simple objective: to tell the everyday stories of people in in third-world countries and to look beyond the war, disease, and poverty media outlets typically cover. Founder Cristi Hegranes saw that everyday stories of entrepreneurship, human rights, and education were equally deserving of coverage and drastically undersupplied, even though there was a healthy demand for syndication. In creating a new media system that could deliver that content, Hegranes found that women were the best fit for the job.
The Global Press Institute's primary goal is to employ local journalists and create a steady stream of everyday news from developing countries. Stories might cover how activists are urging Zambian women to use laws against abuse to the fullest degree or how Argentine students are learning to recycle electronics. Those stories are available to over 100 syndication partners such as Al Jazeera America, United Press International, and Reuters TrustLaw. Syndication accounts for as much as 15% of the Global Press Institute's annual budget of $1.2 million. That number is poised to grow, and the Institute receives support from the MacArthur Foundation, The Case Foundation, Ashoka, Google Grants and many others.
The Global Press Institute considers the empowerment of local women a secondary part of their purpose, but essential to its success. Women just happen to be the most reliable, stable members of developing countries and are therefore a vital resource for ongoing local coverage. As Hegranes explains, "women have extraordinary access to the stories we're trying to tell--such as human rights, education, and local enterprise."
In many developing countries, women tend to stay at home while men pursue work in other regions or countries. Cristi Hegranes realized women might be a more appropriate target population for journalistic training when she went to Nepal. "I was in a rural village in Nepal, and the first thought that came to me was: 'there are literally no men in this village.'" As she became more familiar with her community, she learned men in developing countries are much more likely to be involved in civil wars or to be employed in manual labor abroad, while women are more sustainable members of their local communities.
This makes women more desirable trainees and better prospects for long-term employment. It also shows how the Global Press Institute has creatively designed its mission around the communities it serves. It's an example of human-centered design thinking that takes unique community opportunities and constraints into account. The Global Press Institute has a 90% retention rate for journalists trained in 26 countries.
Global Press Institute Founder Cristi Hegranes reviews the ethics module in a Cameroon training... [+]
Retention is vital to this social entrepreneurship business model, and the training offered is an unprecedented opportunity for many of these women. The educational program requires no formal education and no English skills-- near-constant barriers to achievement in developing countries. 21 educational modules take students through classroom and fieldwork training that includes ethics, interview techniques, copyediting, and safety, supported by an international, digitally-connected staff of copyeditors, translators, fact-checkers, and editors. The program typically takes 6 months, but varies based on the educational attainment of students. Many of these women enter with a 6th grade education. 100% are hired upon graduation.
Most importantly, the training has become what Hegranes calls a "ladder of opportunity." 60% of the Global Press Institute's reporters describe themselves as primary breadwinners in their homes and 90% report a change in community status since becoming GPI reporters. The regional editors in Asia and Africa are graduates of the Global Press Institute's training programs, and have widely expanded their duties from writing to managing diverse teams and international budgets.
Today, Global Press Institute is employing over 100 reporters and reaching an audience of over 5 million subscribers. You can find their latest content at Global Press Journal.
