Global Voices Online was developed after a 2004 international bloggers’ conference at Harvard.  The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School stepped in to sponsor and house the project, which has grown to include 130 countries.

Global Voices focuses on so-called “bridge bloggers,” worldwide bloggers sharing information about their country with an international public.

Blogger-editors at Global Voices link to 5-10 pertinent posts per day in each represented region.  Posts are also categorized by topic, such as “freedom of speech” and “media.”  The original English site is now translated into Spanish, Portugese, Arabic, Persian, Russian, French, and Chinese.

The organization’s website defines their mission as such: “At a time when the international English-language media ignores many things that are important to large numbers of the world’s citizens, Global Voices aims to redress some of the inequities in media attention by leveraging the power of citizens’ media.”

The Institute for Interactive Journalism prize comes on the heels of an unrestricted Reuters grant in January of this year.  It is infinitely refreshing to see a valuable non-profit receive appropriate funding.


Sources: International Journalists’ Network, Global Voices Online