Charity: WORLDwrite

WORLDbytes is a unique online Citizen TV channel set up and run by the education charity WORLDwrite. Dedicated to advancing new knowledge, skills and ideas, the charity promotes excellence in citizen reporting and provides free training to volunteer-learners which combines practical film making with tackling challenging issues. In one sense we’re all citizen journalists now and the mainstream media gathers sound bites from us to extend its reach and provide an interactive edge. We’re allowed to text vote on shows, our emails are read out on breakfast news, an occasional mobile phone clip gets aired but where is the access to the training or expensive kit to allow us to contribute serious reports, alternative stories, views and news? WORLDbytes, the charity’s pioneering channel, has stepped into the breach to ensure Citizen TV is both possible and taken seriously. We work with volunteer-learners to craft well shot programmes with something new to say. WORLDbytes’ film facilities and free training provides access to gear and tuition that individuals would never be able to afford otherwise. Uniquely, WORLDbytes has an open door policy, working with people from across the world and around the corner. We encourage a global outlook, critical understanding and aspirations for the best for all. Our programmes push boundaries, question the way the world is and make an impact. At WORLDbytes we aim high – while privileging content over style, our pool of professional tutors promote top end production values and broadcast quality standards to do justice to the ideas of our aspirant crews. Working with people who have often never picked up a camera before, we promote serious research and discussion and provide intensive practical training on shoots for actual programmes. We equip our learners to: do justice to challenging ideas uncover hidden histories film major debates cover local and global issues create scripts and mini-productions which send up newsworthy items Volunteer-learners are taught in the studio and out on the streets, negotiating their way in public spaces to seriously engage with fellow citizens on key issues. Contributing far more than the usual sound bites, volunteer-learners plan programmes, interview experts, academics and policy makers, create scripts for lighter hearted items, form crews and learn to disseminate and distribute their programmes worldwide. We believe Citizen TV has a vital role to play in covering the ideas and stories rarely told, without the constraints of commissioners’ whims, mainstream “ratings” wars and fears of upsetting conventional wisdom. There is a different tale to be told and WORLDbytes’ motto is “Don’t shout at the telly, change the message on it”.