What is the Palestine Podcast Academy, and what is our goal?

If we want to move beyond an emergency-response footing then we must educate the public about the realities of life in Palestine. 

Through the Palestine Podcast Academy you will connect Palestinians from Gaza, east Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank in teams to learn podcasting production skills, the ethics of journalism, and the fundamentals of leadership. Why do we work in teams? Because we believe that the process of learning should itself be an act of resistance to Apartheid and that the trainings you support should build relationships between individuals and institutions across Palestine.

We have already successfully completed two beta tests of our model. Now it's time for you to take things to the next level. 

So, where do you come in?

Your support creates an all-Palestinian and all-female team of facilitators who will continue their work with Palestinian organizations and universities to provide 2-week crash courses, and 6 months of free mentorship, to all of our graduates. Too many organizations offer free workshops, pass out certificates, and then disappear, but your support ensures that our graduates actually launch their own shows in English, Arabic, or in any language they choose. We also teach our graduates how to monetize their shows to support their financial independence. 

Episode One

You're offering much more than just skills-training:

Beyond podcast training and production, the Palestine Podcast Academy provides dozens of jobs to our core team of Palestinian facilitators, local builders, and local artists, leaving a positive economic footprint in the local economy. And finally, your support ensures that all of our participants and graduates have access to the equipment they need to create broadcast-quality productions. 

Your support is critical because it ensures that our content and our training remains 100% independent and free from any outside political or corporate influence.

If you believe that the world needs to put the narrative back in the hands of the people, and that we need more independent media by Palestinians, from Palestine, highlighting unfiltered Palestinian perspectives, then yalla! It's your moment to pass the mic to Palestine!

Where does your money go?

Open Roads Media is a fully registered nonprofit in The Netherlands since 2015, with ANBI status (this is similar to 501c3 status in the US). All donations pass through our Dutch nonprofit. 

10€ Covers transportation costs to get a student to and from a recording studio during the academy

80€ Covers a professional microphone and recording kit for one academy graduate, so they can record from home

140€ Covers the cost of one month's access to custom recording software that allows our students to do interviews with anyone in the world, even with a poor Internet connection

1,600€ covers professional microphones for an entire graduating class

8,300€ covers the salaries for all Palestinian staff members for one academy.

35,000€ 
 

• Creates two Palestine Podcast Academies, graduating up to 40 citizen journalists
• Enables two six-month mentorship modules for all academy graduates to ensure that they launch their own shows
• Creates 12 paid positions for our all-female all-Palestinian team of facilitators and coordinators across all areas of Palestine. Leaving a positive economic footprint in Palestine is critical to every aspect of our programming.
• Purchases microphones and basic studio equipment for our graduates to ensure that they are able to create broadcast-quality recordings.
• Purchases subscription to custom software to enable high quality recordings in low-bandwidth areas of Palestine.
• Covers transportation costs for students
• Promotional costs and original music for final projects from all of our graduating students

70,000€

• All of the above, and…
• Sustains the Palestine podcast Academy for a full year
• Creates four Palestine Podcast Academies, graduating up to 80 citizen journalists, with four six-month internship cycles for all graduates
• Creates 24 paid positions for our all-female all-Palestinian team of facilitators and coordinators across all areas of Palestine.

160,000€

• All of the above, and…
• Creates 10 miniature recording booths in cities all across Palestine for use by all of our students, so they can avoid checkpoints and transportations costs.
• Creates 6 additional paid positions for carpenters and artists to build and paint murals on recording booths
• Creates 2 additional paid positions for Arabic-language instructors
• Creates an office space to be used for instruction, recordings, and a work-space for our students and team in Palestine
• Allows Palestine Podcast Academy to bring in industry specialists to train students in advanced techniques such as Cyber Security, Advanced Sound Design, Marketing and Promotion
• Allows Palestine Podcast Academy to hire a videographer to create a documentary short featuring the stories of our participants in Gaza, east Jerusalem and across the West Bank to be entered in international film festivals and as marketing material for the PPA