When I first moved to Washington in August 2006, I found a rich international culture. And within months of exploring the city, I was reminded of what I had always known – I love looking at the U.S. from behind the lens of international news.

The first time I left the U.S. (Indiana might I add) was to New Delhi, India, in 1996. I was an awkward 11-year-old, with blonde hair, braces and an insatiable curiosity about the culture around me. When I returned, I told my english teacher I might have a hard time keeping up with her curriculum, because I was planning on writing a book about my trip. (Insert laughter). The book never came but a draft sits in my parent’s home in Indiana, safe keeping for when the time is right.

Funny thing is, timing really doesn’t care about being right.

Ten years later, I was sitting in my D.C. apartment reading an article about how international news buearus were being cut right and left by struggling American media companies. It helped me to understand that massive cutbacks, newsroom shutdowns and a growing gap for fact-based news and information would soon ensue.  And in tandem, so too did  my obsession with the evolution of fact-based journalism.

Fast forward to 2010. A few months ago, I spoke on a panel at the National Press Club about how I’ve used digital tools to gather, produce and disseminate news. After the talk, someone from Radio Free Europe (RFE) approached me. He told me about their HQs in Prague and the mission to provide uncensored news in censored states like Afghanistan, Turkestan, Iran, Kosovo, Moldova and more.

So I began to dig in.

RFE is worth checking out. They have hundreds of journalists in areas that the Post, the Times and other American-focused outlets had to cut. (No doubt they still get stringer stories, but the presence is not the same.) RFE also has a sick amount of multimedia content, radio clips, and blog content like Journalists in Trouble that put it all into perspective. It’s a gold mine of information and hard to get content.

But my digging in is not without motivation. I am trying to see if I can help them out in terms of digital and content strategy, community building, engagement and targeting. So that when the time is right, the vulnerable, information-deprived audiences around the world, or even simply in America, will get the fact-first information they need.

While I continue to learn about RFE, I wanted to share with you guys some of the cooler stories I’ve found. Enjoy.

In Need Of Transplants In Tajikistan

Migrant Express: Stuck at the Border

Today is World Press Freedom Day, a day devoted to remind everyone about the freedom of expression – and remember those journalists who lost their lives or freedom by pursuing it.

But with it, it is also a chance to look at all the great things that are happening on different corners of the globe to make sure vulnerable voices are heard, stories are told, and lives are made better because of it. And what better place to look than one of my favorite countries, India.

Video Volunteers (VV), (winner of a Knight News Challenge), is an organization in India that trains journalists to produce video reports on social issues – inside the often unpublicized crevices of the country’s widespread poverty. From Rajastan to the Himalayas, VV is out capturing stories from the voices of villagers who face major obstacles in education, poverty and health care.

Perhaps the most impressive part of VV and their new project, IndiaUnheard. The journalists are made up of Indians from different castes, genders, and states.

While the demand for community produced content in the media increases, it’s great to see programs like this get off the ground. Thanks to Mahima Kaul of VV for the tip on this great project. Having been to India three times, I’m an advocate of this work. Keep it up.

Pulitzer Worthy (IMHO) Video from Haiti

Originally uploaded by ericaamerica08

This is an incredible piece of video journalism from Canada’s Globe and Mail photo journalist, Peter Power. Using the subtle fade of still photos, he narrates the story of Port-au-Prince through his eyes. His description of buildings collapsing like pancakes and survivors rolling into clinics in wheelbarrows is NPR worthy. No, wait, it’s Pulitzer worthy.

Thanks, Pete. The deadline for Pulitzer Prizes is February 1, 2010.

It was day 26 of the hunger strike at the White House and I decided last night to keep it up and go again. I talked to some young people this time about why they are involved. While I have frequently been asked by the organizers if I “support their cause,” (probably because I have been the only “media” there and they are anxious for attention), I have to quickly answer with this, “I am an advocate of anyone exercising their right to peacefully assemble and address issues with the government. It’s what this democracy is all about.”

I always get a calm smile and an invitation to film whatever I like.

Here is part three of the Hunger Strike series. Each has been considered for, or has been, aired by CNN:

Previous Reports:

Unwelcome at the White House, August 9, 2009 Currently 2, 315 views, 35 comments

Hunger Strike at the White House: Day 19, August 17, 2009 Currently 1, 404 views, 83 comments

I have finally decided what I do. It’s called First Amendment journalism and wherever I can find anyone exercising the right to peacefully assemble, petition the government, establish their religion, or just advocate for freedom of speech or press, I will be there.

Here is the second part of my series on the Hunger Strike at the White House. As I wrote on my Facebook page,

There is a common thread I can’t ignore as I continue to cover this story about a minority group in Iraq that is now a target of violence as the US prepares to pull out: minority groups of all kinds, gays, MEK, Kurds and more – are all likely to… become victims – as the majorities are given arms to establish Iraq as their own.

Here is the video. Let me know what you think.

Last night I went down to the White House on a little walk. It was probably 80 or 90 degrees. Man was it hot. But when I got there, the heat quickly escaped my mind. As I approached the White House, I noticed the same flags, and a mass of people, that I came across in early August. It was a group of Iranian Americans, present now at the White House 24/7, for a duration of six months. You can imagine with this kind of presence, they have something to say.

You might not have heard of Camp Ashraf – so if that’s the case, let me fill you in. In the 1980s, a group of Iranians, the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), rose up against the Iranian regime. They demanded democracy and engaged in armed opposition of the government of Iran.

At the height of the opposition, some 3,400 members of the PMOI, also known as MEK, were placed in Camp Ashraf, just north of Baghdad. In 2003, when the U.S. invaded Iraq, the MEK were all disarmed, in exchange for the U.S.’s protection of the camp. Now, as the U.S. pulls out, the MEK are vulnerable – unarmed, and targets of decades of animosity from the Iranian regime.

Two weeks ago, the Camp was brutally attacked.

“It means that after everything America has done, Iran really has the upper hand in Iraq,” Zahra Amanpour, an Iranian-American, told me.

What is the U.S. going to do? Do we have a responsibility to the MEK?

If you haven’t been paying attention – here is the skinny. Over the weekend, Iran held presidential elections. The incumbent, supreme leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pulled out a landslide victory. Or so it looked. Massive amounts of people organized in a visceral reaction to Ahmadinejad’s second-term victory, claiming his contender, Mir Hossein Mousavi, had been cheated. Mousavi almost immediately demanded the election results be annulled.

One U.S. blogger, Andrew Sullivan, described President Ahmadinejad’s leadership and said he is dedicated to “conflict abroad,” manipulative of “rural, religious voters,” and engaged in other abuses of “the state.” Even perhaps more illuminating, Sullivan asked whether Iranian voters can “trust the process” when they have a President who “pulls tricks” like Karl Rove.

Back in Iran, tens of thousands of Iranians took the streets in opposition to Ahmadinejad victory. Citizen journalism video reports and the use of micro blogs and hash tags(#iran #iranelections) broadcasted a raw and emotional look at what Iranian organizers, press and activists were going through in the capital of Tehran.

One YouTube user, theamirzare, who apparently just signed up on the video sharing network to post this video, sent a simple message:  ”Ahmadinejad is NOT my President.” In just two days, the video has over 23,000 views.

Back in the U.S., activist bloggers chased the story with original content created by on-the-ground reporters from the New York Times, CNN and others. Tracy Viselli, a blogger at Care2, pulled together a well-organized summary of key highlights as well as a few videos from the ground. Below I posted my favorite, which is from CNN’s Chief International Correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. Her cameras caught one woman shouting, “People in Tehran hate Ahmadinejad! People in Tehran hate Ahmadinejad!”"

Finally, on Sunday night, as hundreds, if not thousands of U.S. bloggers watched the chaos unfold, some decided to start a little chaos of their own. TechPresident broke the news that a group of cyber strategists had temporarily shut down Iran’s state-run media web site, www.IRIB.ir. The effort was lead by D.C. political consultant and new media authority, Josh Koster, who leveraged free web app called Page Reboot, to bring the site down. The customized anti-IRIB link was passed around through Twitter and list servs until finally, at 9:24 PM EST, @joshkoster proclaimed, “(PLS RT!): We just brought down Iran’s media site. 2 More: http://tinyurl.com/m42b65 http://tinyurl.com/lmgzmf #iranelection (PLS RT!)

Oh, democracy. Aren’t you fun.

ThinkProgress reports:

Al Jazeera’s Nazanin Sadri reports that Iran is considering a new law that would allow the death penalty for “offensive” bloggers:

Under a strict interpretation of Islamic law, Individuals can be sentenced to death for two main categories of crime. The first is murder. The second is known as ‘fasad,’ which means spreading mischief or undermining the authority or stability of the state. What that constitutes is open to interpretation. In the past it has been applied to rape, adultery, drug-related offenses, and homosexual behavior. Iran now wants to introduce the death penalty for bloggers who write about and promote illegal activities.

This just in. U.S. Troops (1 Solider = 1 “Troop”) will double to 60,000 in Afghanistan by the middle of 2010. Marine’s will be sent to the southern part of the country, where the Taliban has the strongest presence. This “new, aggressive mission” as reported by NPR, is what President Obama and Defense Secretary Robert Gates call a “3-5 year bridging strategy” to get the h_ll out.

Why the change? If you remember, right before President Bush left office he met with President Karzai and said “the interest is to build a thriving democracy.”

According to NPR’s report, after seven years of U.S. in Afghanistan, billions of dollars spent and hundreds of U.S. Troops killed, the idea of a thriving democracy is far, far away. The poppy crop (opium, which makes heroin), is thriving and funding the Taliban’s regime…and President Karzai’s government (brother to be exact) has been linked to the drug trade.

Last week I spoke to a Georgetown University class on the use of social media, video and blogs in the election. Alan Rosenblatt of Center for American Progress, also the Professor, invited me. I opened up with some stories about my experience blogging and reporting for MTV, and then listened as Netroots Rising authors, Lowell Feld and Nate Wilcox took it away. I love speaking at classes because I know I am bound to learn something. That night was no exception.

This morning I spoke for the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL). The organization works in tandem with the House Democracy Assistance Commission and is internationally recognized for introducing rising political and policy leaders to each other. I spoke alongside Arielle Fleisher of Campus Progress and Adrian Talbott of Generation Engage.

ACYPL had brought young political leaders from Jordan, Israel and Hungary for their Election Study Program. From the Hungarian Socialist Party to Israel’s Women’s Rights Movement, these intellectuals would be in the U.S. for a few weeks — starting in Washington and then moving to battleground states to observe U.S. democracy in action.

I wondered last week what I could discuss about the Youth Engagement in this election that would be original and of interest.  Then it dawned on me when I saw this video.

The impact of citizen journalism in this election.

I gave an overview of how user generated content on YouTube, THINK and Facebook have revolutionized the way my generation interacts socially and politically. But then I got a question.

“Will young people be to blame if Obama loses?”

The question was fair, and my answer simple.

Definitely not. With an age-old electoral college, state resources stretched to accomodate the record number of voters – we have bigger problems than pointing fingers at first-time voters. Yes? No?

On any given day at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, a face-off will happen. Whether it’s from within the house walls or on the blacktop where tourists and activists gather, belief systems are tested, tourists sometimes troubled and locals carry out many missions.

Last weekend, I caught up with a few people picketing at the White House. The picket was organized by the Campaigns Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) and calls into question President Bush’s intentions towards Iran.

In a New Yorker article by investigative reporter, Seymour M. Hersh, “Preparing the Battlefield,” sources confirmed the White House asked for, and received, $400 million for a major escalation of covert operations against Iran.

While the White House sells the idea that Iran is an immediate nuclear threat, a 2007 U.N. nuclear inspection reported that there is no evidence Iran was working actively to build nuclear weapons. Instead, concerns were expressed that the escalating rhetoric from the U.S. could bring “disaster.”

Here is a short video I created from that White House picket. It was great interviewing the activists – and then in pure contrast asking for the reactions of tourists. I even found an Iraq Vet along for the show.

Check out my new iMovie video, which I just posted on You Tube.

In the first four days, it attracted more than 400 views.I used my Nikon CoolPix to shoot the photos on a trip to New Delhi, Varanasi, and Dharamsala, India this past March. Here is a little background.

Back to India

My first time to witness India was in 1996. I was twelve and had a mouth full of braces and blonde hair. From powdered milk to toilet paper, my cousin and I packed everything we could think of. “This was a third world country,” my Mom, would warn, packing me up so tight it hurt to let go.Yet the second I arrived and had my first dose of the chaos of India’s interstate, I would never feel homesick again. Instead, I would take  two more trips, at ages 19 and 22. Each time I would learn prfound truths about the world, humanity and interdependence. It was remarkable.

This March, in a local market, I asked our driver, Rammi, if people minded me taking their picture. He smiled, nodded his head “no” and gave me the warmest reminder of why I love Indians so much. From that moment on, I shot everything I could, always trying to connect with my subjects if just for an instant.

I was on an overnight train to Dharamsala in March when I took this photo. I was up with the sun after a bumpy few hours of sleep in a rickety bunker. To me, there’s not much better than a fresh newspaper in the morning, so I was pleased when the train slowed, pulling into a small station in the state of Punjab, which is known for lush farming fields and a sprawling, green landscape.

In India, there are 14 official languages and dozens more spoken. And that’s just what they can count. In a nation that’s nearly impossible to capture a census, its one billion citizens make it the second most populous nation in the world. The people’s hunger for information and news has propelled the newspaper industry enormously, producing more papers than conceivably possible in the States.

I took this photo of the colorful top folds, ready to be picked apart, devoured, absorbed and thrown to waste where someone else would surely find use for it. I pulled out a handful of rupees and bought three. As soon as I did the train started moving. Turning away from the faces on the platform, I leapt back on, propped the door open and watched as the train picked up speed. For one beautiful hour, I watched villages of people wake up to the sun.