WITNESS – Brooklyn, NY
Internship
Organization
WITNESS uses video to open the eyes of the world to human rights violations. WITNESS empowers people to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools for justice, promoting public engagement and policy change. Founded 20 years ago by musician and activist, Peter Gabriel, WITNESS partners with NGO’s, community groups, and grassroots organizations around the globe. witness.org
Internships at WITNESS offer a unique, hands-on opportunity to enhance their educational objectives through practical, real-world experience under the guidance and mentoring of experienced professionals in the areas of human rights, video advocacy, communications, media operations, fundraising, IT, human resources, and nonprofit administration. Interns participate in an array of activities depending on the department and projects, which may include logging footage, translation, research, event planning, online outreach, and organizational support.
Description and Learning Objectives
Are you passionate about human rights? Do you believe Twitter is the greatest thing since sliced bread? The Human Rights Channel is looking for a Social Media Intern to help us get valuable citizen video to the eyes, newspapers, and twitter feeds of those who need to see it.
The Human Rights YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/humanrights) curates, verifies, and contextualizes citizen video on human rights issues around the world. As breaking news is increasingly recorded by citizen journalists, the Human Rights Channel is at the forefront of international news gathering and human rights investigation.
The Social Media Intern will work with the Human Rights Channel Curator to optimize the channel’s presence on and use of social media platforms like Twitter and Google+. Social media is the primary outreach mechanism for the Channel, making this work central to the project.
Objectives include:
Learning to utilize Twitter & Google+ as information sources and distribution outlets
Finding relevant articles and other links to share on social media to inform followers and spark conversation
Utilize social media to identify and contextualize underexposed human rights stories
Working with the Curator to maintain social media engagement metrics
Helping to identify and reach out to relevant online communities
Researching and implementing new ways to leverage social media to advance the goals of the Channel
All interns are expected to spend between 20-30% of their time engaged in administrative support.
Qualifications
Potential interns should be upper undergraduates or graduate students. We’re looking for a creative, enthusiastic team player with the following skills:
Familiarity with and/or passion for international affairs and human rights
Familiarity with online engagement (Google+, Twitter, or other social media networks) and passion about new media
Strong writing skills & attention to detail
It’d also be great if you have:
Familiarity with social media management tools (Buffer, HootSuite, TweetDeck, etc.)
Online research and/or news reporting experience
Blogging or micro-blogging (e.g. Tumblr) experience
Foreign language skills (especially Arabic, Spanish and French)
Start Date: Late January 2014
General Information
We require a minimum of twelve weeks commitment, for at least 24 hours per week. Internships are unpaid. Our offices are located in Brooklyn, NY, convenient to the Barclay Center and Atlantic Terminal (2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, Q, N and R trains, LIRR) and C (Lafayette) and G (Fulton) trains.
Application Instructions
No phone inquiries please. We strongly prefer applications by email including a resume (2 page max), cover letter with “Human Rights Channel Social Media” in the Subject. Job Location(s) Brooklyn, NY, US
Website www.witness.org