• Q: What is FreeMediaOnline.org?

A: FreeMediaOnline.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and advancing free speech and freedom of the press worldwide through journalistic, educational, and information sharing activities. Our goal is to help create a media environment supporting greater freedom, understanding, and tolerance. Our primary focus is on offering information sharing and program delivery assistance to journalists and media organizations whose right of free expression is denied or restricted. We also provide independent analysis and program delivery assistance to individuals and organizations engaged in supporting free media worldwide. We advocate for the rights of independent media and work to make free information more widely available to journalists in media-at-risk countries. We are registered in California as a public benefit corporation.

A: FreeMediaOnline.org was founded in June 2006 by Ted Lipien and a group of media specialists with backgrounds in international broadcasting, media marketing, and media research. Prior to starting this organization and launching its web site, Ted Lipien had worked for over 30 years as a manager, broadcaster, reporter, editor, and marketing specialist at the Voice of America and the International Broadcasting Bureau. Both of these organizations are U.S. taxpayer-funded government agencies set up to communicate with international audiences. He was also responsible for launching and editing an online multimedia opinion journal published in 19 different languages. For more information about Ted Lipien >> Click Here

A: Post & Receive Online page is a free news and information sharing forum for Independent journalists. It is designed primarily for journalists in media-at-risk-countries. All journalists and private individuals, however, regardless of their country of origin, can use and contribute news reports and other information to Post and Receive Online. FreeMediaOnline.org will assist in the delivery of these reports to media outlets in countries where governments are trying to restrict freedom of the press or where populations are exposed to propaganda promoting political, ethnic, racial, gender, or religious intolerance.

We invite journalists, domestic and international broadcasters, domestic and international nonprofit organizations, and other providers of information to make their submissions to Post and Receive Online. Anyone wishing to post information with us should send an email to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

A: Our web site is designed to facilitate legal distribution and re-publication of information. We want journalists and media outlets to contact us in order to improve our services and to respond better to their needs. This kind of feedback is extremely important to us. If for legitimate reasons a journalist in a media-at-risk country cannot contact us immediately, he or she would still have an automatic right to publish our original material free-of-charge subject to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License and our site's Terms of Use. This license does not cover any third-party material, which we have no right to sublicense. To obtain permission for use of any third-party material accessed from our web site, users must contact these information providers directly.

A: We are requesting that individuals and organizations in the United States contact us before using, re-publishing, or re-distributing our material for the same reasons as international users. We would like to know more about the domestic users of our informational and educational services and are interested in learning how we can be more effective in meeting their needs. We also grant a royalty-free Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License to U.S. domestic users of our original material for educational and noncommercial use. For some types of commercial use or distribution of original FreeMediaOnline.org reports, we may charge a reasonable license fee to support our activities. Permission for commercial use our original materials can be obtained by sending an email to: permissions@freemediaonline.org.

We hope that individuals and organizations in the U.S. interested in using our reports or services might be willing to support our international activities in defense of free media through donations, offers of free programming, or volunteer activities.

A: Free Resources for International Media will include information about free programming, professional training, exchanges of people and programs, educational opportunities, equipment grants, and other assistance available to independent journalists worldwide from multiple sources.

A: International Journalists Forum is for international journalists and others interested in media freedom issues. We encourage everyone to participate in our Forum by sending in questions, useful information for journalists and students of journalism, as well as original news reports, articles, and commentaries.

In our International Journalists Forum we will focus on media freedom issues, censorship, propaganda, journalistic ethics, journalistic education and training, business of journalism, and important issues in the news.

Our Forum is also open to students of journalism. We encourage U.S.-based students to engage in a dialogue with students of journalism worldwide. Anyone interested in participating should email their submission to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

A: In Internet for Journalists we will post information about the latest technological, political, regulatory, and legal developments in the use of the Internet to promote the free flow of information and media freedom worldwide.

FreeMediaOnline.org invites technical, political, and legal experts to contribute their articles and comments to our Internet for Journalists page. We are committed to involving the private sector in the United States and worldwide in doing more to help independent journalists, especially in countries which experience repression and violence. We believe that business and technological expertise of the private sector can be invaluable in solving some of the program delivery and program distribution challenges faced by journalists in media-at-risk countries. We would like to hear from anyone who would like to offer their technical or business expertise and support. They can send us an email at: contact@freemediaonline.org

Likewise, if anyone has important information they would like to share or if they have an Internet-related question and would like to request more information about a particular topic, they should send an email to the same email address.

In USA for International Journalists we will post information about the United States that may be useful to journalists and media outlets abroad. Again, all questions should be sent to: contact@freemediaonline.org. Organizations or individuals who have interesting information about any aspect of life in the United States that could be useful for audiences abroad should contact us at the same email address.

A: FreeMediaOnline.org provides independent program evaluation to organizations interested in maximizing their impact and audience reach by improving their program delivery, affiliate relations, and cooperation with foreign media. Our associates have years of experience in applying innovative technological, political, and commercial solutions to program content development and program delivery challenges. We are planning to provide training to independent journalists and broadcasters in media-at-risk countries focused on journalistic and technological strategies to overcome media restrictions.

A: The Translations for Free Media project will offer independent journalists news reports and articles in languages they can use. In Religion & Media we will include information which journalists may find useful in their coverage of religion and in reporting on the discrimination of religious believers or the abuse of religion to promote violence. In Business & Media we will report on media coverage of issues dealing with economic development, business ethics, and globalization.

The Women & Media project is designed to facilitate multimedia placement of articles and reports on how media portrayal of women and minorities exposes them to discrimination and violence. We will also work with journalists worldwide to distribute their reports on media responses to the problem of trafficking in women and children. FreeMediaOnline.org's goal is to counter propaganda against the rights of women. Through our Health & Media project we will work with journalists and media outlets worldwide to broaden the distribution of well-researched, accurate, and objective news reports on important health issues. In Education & Media we will provide information which may be useful to journalists and other users of our web site in their own personal development and professional careers.

Public Diplomacy Updates and International Broadcasting Updates pages are designed to help journalists, scholars, students, and others interested in these two topics to find information and expert analysis. Censorship Report and Propaganda Forum will also include information and research from FreeMediaOnline.org analysts and from other sources. Any journalist, media specialist, or expert who would like to contribute information or analysis in any of these categories should send an email to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

A: We are very well aware of the danger of using government-generated information or information from any other self-interested source. But when such information can be useful for international journalists, we will post it with appropriate warnings. We always indicate the source of information and try to point out any inaccuracies or any other problems with the material being posted. You may want to read our story on the White House web site's failure to post photos of a Falun Gong protester at a welcoming ceremony for China's president. This report explains the pros and cons of using official sources and shows how various international broadcasters handled the White House protest story. [Link]

Much of the U.S. government information is in the public domain and can be used by international journalists without paying any license fees. This access to free material can be useful if properly used. At the same time, FreeMediaOnline.org works with non-governmental institutions and organizations to make their information more accessible and free to independent journalists in media-at-risk countries. Read more...

A: We want journalists to make their own decisions about any material that may appear on our site. Frankly, we cannot completely check and evaluate everything we post. The "Terms of Use" are also important because much of what we post on our site comes from third-party sources. We normally provide only links and short summaries of third party material because most of it is protected by copyright. These information providers have their own terms and conditions for using their programs and their information. Journalists who want to use such material must become familiar with these conditions and observe them.

Some information providers are happy to have their material used, and some of it may be free. Many information providers, however, impose unnecessary restrictions on the use of their material or do not explain how journalists can incorporate such material in their work. One of our goals is to advocate for greater transparency and fewer restrictions on the use of news products from information providers. We are also trying to convince them to make their information available free of charge to independent journalists in media-at-risk countries.

While we will do our best to include links on our web site to various sources of free or low-cost programming, journalists must make their own judgments in selecting such information for use and must comply with all copyright and licensing requirements and restrictions. At this time, FreeMediaOnline.org has no right to sublicense third-party news reports, articles, audio, video, and photos. We can only inform journalists where they can find such material. We will work to make this process as easy and as transparent as possible.

A: We located in San Francisco, California, USA..

A: FreeMediaOnline.org associates will be providing international broadcasters, nonprofit organizations, and their oversight bodies with independent analysis of program effectiveness and program delivery issues. Through our online reporting and our work with NGOs, governments, and business, we will also advocate for greater cooperation between information providers and independent journalists and for free access to information. We will report on freedom of the press issues and strategies for overcoming censorship and propaganda.

A: We have years of experience in finding new ways to bypass censorship and to counter propaganda claims. At FreeMediaOnline.org, we are committed to exploring new technological solutions to program delivery and distribution problems. We strongly believe in a more creative use of satellite television and the Internet, as well as radio. But technology is not the only answer. Every country is different and has different needs in terms of the type of information required and program delivery methods. Effective change originates with ideas based on solid knowledge, experience, and determination to apply them in implementing practical solutions. We are convinced that independent journalists working in their own countries are critical partners of the international community's efforts to overcome political repression, censorship, propaganda, and corruption. Our mission is to help them succeed through effective sharing of information, cooperation, and the use of innovative technology.

A: The founders have used their own money, but we are far from finished designing and improving our web site, developing our programs, seeking outside sources of funding, and recruiting volunteers. FreeMediaOnline.org is a new organization looking for ways to support its ambitious program of activities in defense of media freedom. Anybody who would like to offer advice, technical assistance, or volunteer their services should send an email to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

A: We are still exploring how FreeMediaOnline.org will operate and how we will secure our funding. We have registered FreeMediaOnline.org as a nonprofit public benefit California corporation. To preserve our independence, we intend to seek funding from multiple sources. We are asking for donations from individuals and will also seek corporate sponsorship and government grants. At the same time, we are looking for volunteers, including IT specialists, web-designers, reporters, writers, editors, translators, and people with other skills who can help us.

A: We are still in the process of recruiting our first Board of Directors. We would like to select individuals who have international experience, who may have been journalists themselves, or who understand what independent journalists need to protect media freedom and to promote dialogue, tolerance, and respect for human rights. We are, of course, also looking for individuals who can help us with fundraising and with technical issues of program delivery. In addition to our regular Board of Directors, we will also have an International Advisory Board composed of experts from various countries. We are especially interested in having the advice of journalists and media professionals whom we are trying to support. Anyone wishing to volunteer their time, advice, and expertise should send an email to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

A: Try going to our "About Us" page for more information, or send your questions and comments by email to: contact@freemediaonline.org. Anyone interested in our activities can also subscribe to our Newsletter. We greatly value questions, ideas, suggestions, criticism, and offers of support from all users of our web site, both in the United States and internationally.

A: We can accept donations from both individuals and organizations. We have received a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status from the IRS as a nonprofit public benefit California corporation. Donations to FreeMediaOnline.org are tax deductible to the donor.

Anyone wishing to send in a donation or volunteer their time or expertise should send an email to: contact@freemediaonline.org.

For more information on how to donate money or volunteer, you may want to check our Support Us page.

| About Us | Q-and-A with FreeMediaOnline.org Founder Ted Lipien