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Privacy Policy

Site Terms of Use

At MediaRights, we take your privacy seriously. Access to and use of the products and services available through this site are subject to the following terms and conditions. By using these services, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in this agreement. We accept no responsibility or liability for any inaccuracy or errors and omissions. Please note that our privacy policy is applicable only to our Web site and may or may not apply to outside links. Any damage, economic or otherwise, or injury to persons or property arising out of the accessing or use of any files, instructions, methods or ideas contained on this Web site or in the material accessed from our site is the sole responsibility of the user.

Registration

When you register with MediaRights, we will request "required information" such as your name and email address and request "optional information" such as your interests (which we will use to design user preferences and your public user profile) and whether you are willing to let us share your email address with other organizations. MediaRights reserves the right to offer you third party services based on the preferences that you identify when you register. MediaRights reserves the right to terminate your membership if necessary. Please remember to update your registration information if you change your contact information.

Statistical and Survey Information

We may aggregate statistics about our members for examination of traffic patterns. Likewise, information collected from surveys on our site is intended for demographic information only. Survey participants may receive our newsletter or other future email announcements.

Message Board Postings

By participating in our online discussions, you grant us permission to quote you in advertisements, press kits, or in any way that we see fit, in any medium. Notwithstanding the forgoing, all personal information will be handled in accordance with our privacy policy. Our policy applies both to our main site and to the Outreach Toolkit message boards.

Cookies

We may place information, known as a "cookie", on your computer to allow us to identify you. By showing us the visiting patterns of our users and members, this information can enable us to better serve you. The use of cookies is an industry standard. If you wish to reject cookies, you can set your browser to reject them. The cookies will expire automatically after a short period of time. Your IP address will not be distributed, but will only be used to aggregate statistical reports, detect errors on the Web site, and for security reasons.

Unsubscribing

Please uncheck the check-box during the registration process if you do not wish to receive additional mailings. You may unsubscribe from our mailing list and registration at any time. Questions regarding this statement, the practices of this site, or requests for removal should be addressed to: info@mediarights.org or may be mailed to:
MediaRights
104 W. 14th St., 4th Floor
New York, NY 10011
or faxed to: (646) 230-6328

Internships

Do you want to learn about documentary filmmaking?

Do you want to learn about Internet activism?

Do you want to work alongside a team of nonprofit professionals who are dedicated to using media to promote human rights, racial justice and environmental protection?

If you do, then a MediaRights internship might be the place to start your career.

At MediaRights, we are able to accomplish a great deal thanks in part to our talented interns. Our intern program has openings on a rolling basis. Interns work with us for 2-3 days per week for 2-4 month periods. We welcome new applications from students and others eager to learn how a web-based nonprofit promotes social change through the promotion and distribution of social-issue documentaries. Interns are assigned specific tracks depending on their interests and skills.

Duties include: general office tasks, public relations, marketing, research, outreach, maintenance of Web site databases, occasional errand running, proof-reading, writing.

Required: familiarity with Macintosh computers and programs, good communications skills, good organizational skills, ability to assist several different projects simultaneously.

Desired: media experience, good proofreading skills, fast learners, high energy individuals.

All internships are unpaid.

Interested applicants should email a resume and cover letter to:

Ryann Scypion
Office Manager, Arts Engine, Inc.
ryann@artsengine.net
104 West 14th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10011
tel: 646.230.6368
fax: 646.230.6388

For more information about specific intern roles, please see below: Outreach, Marketing and Publicity, Web Development, Membership.

Outreach Development Internship

Description: Coordinates research and development for the filmmaker, educator/librarian, activist/nonprofit and youth workshops; programs and attends off-site events and workshops; helps coordinate the traveling Media That Matters Film Festival, manages the conference database, and conference travel and itineraries.

Qualifications: Applicants should have excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills in English; demonstrated abilities to think creatively and strategically; to undertake and present the highest quality research; meet multiple, simultaneous demands while paying close attention to detail. The ideal candidates will be highly motivated self-starters; able to work independently and as members of a team, and have a commitment to activism.

Web Development Internship

Description: Responsibilities include assisting Web staff with office, publishing and online duties; hardware maintenance; database development; Web site development; Desktop publishing/development; Managing and developing site traffic and Site maintenance as assigned by Director of Technology.

Qualifications: Applicants should have excellent research, writing, and oral communication skills in English; demonstrated abilities to think creatively and strategically; data gathering and analysis (traffic, e-mail opt-ins, etc), with at least 2 years in Web site production, including aptitude with HTML, Photoshop, Flash, MYSQL and content management systems.

Marketing/Publicity Internship

Description: Responsibilities include spearheading outreach and promotion for the organization; initiating online partnerships; Events planning and Press kits; will help from planning to execution and evaluation of information and communications strategies that present the brand/organization to the media, public and members as assigned by the Executive Director. The person will conceive and execute written communications and help secure media coverage, and develop ways to maintain current members and attract new ones.

Qualifications: Applicants should have experience/interest organizing public relations activities from the conception through execution; excellent writing and oral communication skills in English; demonstrated abilities to think creatively and strategically; to undertake and present the highest quality research; meet multiple, simultaneous demands while paying close attention to detail. The ideal candidates will be able to think creatively, be motivated by self-initiative and possess resourcefulness; and work as members of a team, and have a commitment to activism.

Membership Internship

Description: Responsibilities include organizing publication of our monthly email newsletter, analyzing site usability, and managing membership databases.

Qualifications: Experience in writing/editing for a Web audience is a plus; excellent writing and oral communication skills in English; demonstrated abilities to think creatively and strategically; meet multiple, simultaneous demands while paying close attention to detail. The ideal candidates will be highly motivated self-starters; able to work independently and as members of a team, and have a commitment to activism.

Our Funders

MediaRights.org is a project of Arts Engine that provides resources for over 17,000 members and hundreds of thousands of online users annually. With nearly 7,000 documentary films in a database available for free online, a monthly newsletter, Upstream and Shortlist, MediaRights.org helps independent filmmakers, educators, students and activists use social-issue media to encourage dialog and inspire change. We are grateful to the funders listed below and to all those who have supported us over the years, as well as other funders and supports for all of Arts Engine's work.

Partial List of Funders

Adobe Youth Voices
Demonstrating the power of technology to engage middle- and high-school-age youth, Adobe Youth Voices (AYV) provides breakthrough learning experiences using video, multimedia, digital art, web, animation, and audio tools that enable youth to explore and comment on their world. Go to Launchpad to learn more.

Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Their goals are to: strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation and advance human achievement.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. The foundation seeks the development of healthy individuals and effective communities; peace within and among nations; responsible choices about human reproduction; and a global ecosystem capable of supporting healthy human societies.

New York State Council on the Arts
The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) is a state funding agency that provides support for activities of nonprofit arts and cultural organizations in New York State and helps to bring artistic programs of high quality to citizens of the state.

Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute (OSI) is a private operating and grantmaking foundation that develops and implements a range of programs in civil society, education, media, public health and human and women's rights, as well as social, legal, and economic reform. Established in 1993 by investor and philanthropist George Soros, OSI is based in New York City and operates network-wide programs, grantmaking activities in the United States, and other international initiatives.

Otto Haas Charitable Trusts
Funding provided for general operating support and for the MediaRights.org database at the recommendation of David W. Haas.

Surdna Foundation
Surdna is a family foundation established in 1917 by John Emory Andrus. The foundation makes grants in the areas of environment, community revitalization, effective citizenry, the arts and the nonprofit sector, with annual grantmaking of approximately $37 million.

W. K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to apply knowledge to solve the problems of people. Its founder W.K. Kellogg, the cereal industry pioneer, established the foundation in 1930. Since its beginning the Foundation has continuously focused on building the capacity of individuals, communities, and institutions to solve their own problems. Most recently, the foundation has supported Media That Matters: Good Food.

Our Partners

The Association of Independent Video & Filmmakers (AIVF) is the membership organization of independent video and filmmakers. Their mission is to increase the creative and professional opportunities for independent video and filmmakers and to enhance the growth of independent media by providing services and resources, including informative seminars and networking events, access to group health and production insurance, advocacy for media arts issues, a public resource library, and publication of books and directories. They are one of the largest organizations serving and representing independents across the country.

The Bay Area Video Coalition is the nation's largest noncommercial media arts center. Their mission is to address social issues, promote artistic expression, and support underserved populations by providing access to advanced media technology for the expansion of civic dialogue and equal opportunities in an era of ever increasing media consolidation and commercialization. They offer high-tech training and post-production facilities to help create cutting-edge, independent media.

Since 1981, the Benton Foundation has worked to realize the social benefits made possible by the public interest use of communications. Through its own projects, the foundation seeks to shape the emerging communications environment in the public interest. Bridging the worlds of philanthropy, public policy and community action, Benton demonstrates and promotes the use of digital media to engage, equip and connect people to solve social problems.

The International Human Rights Watch Film Festival is the world's leading showcase for distinguished fiction, documentary and animated films and videos that incorporate human rights themes. With yearly festivals in New York and London, the Festival presents works that give a human face and personal viewpoints to threats against political and individual freedom.

IFP (Independent Feature Project) was founded in 1979 on a belief that a truly vital American cinema must include the personal, idiosyncratic, and sometimes controversial voices of filmmakers working outside of the established studio system. As a not-for-profit organization, its mission is to foster a more sustainable infrastructure that supports independent filmmaking and ensures that the public has the opportunity to see films that more accurately reflect the full diversity of the American culture.

The Independent Television Service (ITVS) was established by Congress "to fund and present programming that involves creative risks and addresses the needs of underserved audiences." While granting artistic control to the independent filmmaker, ITVS solicits, funds, packages, promotes and distributes work for broadcast primarily on American public television.

OneWorld US is the United States-based center of OneWorld, the largest international network and web presence devoted to sustainable development and human rights. OneWorld US produces the OneWorld US edition, a country-based site that seeks to enhance the knowledge of U.S. citizens about international affairs/development. In so doing, OneWorld US hopes to stimulate discussion and debate about international affairs and policy alternatives in the United States and encourage action leading to greater peace, justice, and equality at the global level.

Paper Tiger TV is a non-profit volunteer collective that has been pioneering media criticism through video since 1981. Paper Tiger TV works to illuminate the role of media in our society, through the production and distribution of the Paper Tiger public access television series, as well as through media literacy and hands on video production workshops and through various advocacy and coalition work.

Witness has pioneered the use of video and technology to fight for human rights. WITNESS provides human rights activists throughout the United States and around the world with video cameras and technical and strategic guidance to incorporate video into their advocacy campaigns. Witness also assists activists in video productions, and ensures that the evidence generated gets international attention through courts, the media and the United Nations.

Working Films is a new outreach and education organization that links independent filmmaking to citizen action. Their mission is to make award-winning film, video and multimedia production a key resource for national, statewide and local initiatives that expand economic opportunity, improve environmental quality and achieve social justice.

Back Story

In November of 1999, Big Mouth Productions was finishing up the production of "Innocent Until Proven Guilty," a documentary about James Forman Jr. and his work with juvenile ex-offenders. Our program officer at The Ford Foundation, Alan Jenkins brought together a group of media and nonprofit organizations from all over the country to discuss how media makers and activists can work better together, and Julia Pimsleur, one of Big Mouth Productions' producers attended the meeting.

The audio-visual, print and radio makers present were unanimous about the need for a central place where we could keep up on each other's work and find out about new projects. The activists wanted to collaborate with media makers, from whom they felt generally cut off. As a producer who worked at the crossroads of media and activism, Pimsleur was interested in creating a platform to bring together three communities, who are natural allies and partners. At that time, many felt that the Web had been almost entirely overtaken by commercial interests, and that makers of "media that matters" needed to stake out a space on the Internet before it was too late.

A year of grant-writing later, The Ford Foundation generously funded the research and development of "MediaRights.org", the meeting of media makers and human rights activists, produced by Big Mouth Productions and administered by Arts Engine, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our official site launch was in July 2000.

Since 2000 we have dropped the ".org" and expanded our programs to include numerous online and offline initiatives.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to MediaRights!

MediaRights maximizes the impact of social-issue documentaries and shorts. By engaging with the MediaRights community, filmmakers reach audiences, educators and librarians bring films into their classroom, and nonprofits and activists integrate media into their campaigns.

We invite you to join our community by becoming a member (it's free). As a member you will get our monthly email newsletter, including articles and timely events. Read our 10 reasons to join or take the tour to see what MediaRights can offer you.

MediaRights is a project of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Arts Engine, Inc., an organization committed to producing, distributing and promoting independent media of consequence. To find out more about Arts Engine, including our long-form Big Mouth Films documentaries and advocacy videos, go to Arts Engine, Inc.

Feel free to contact us with any question or comments!