The Palestinian Center for Media, Research and Development (PCMRD) is an independent initiative granted official license by our Ministry in 2004 (under registration number 75/9/M A- VAT 934481854).
It was established as a community media development center focused on public access, sharing experiences and disseminating information.
Community Media is created and controlled by a community, united either by geography or as a community of identity or interest. As using Community Media we are to be distinguished from commercial, State-run or private media broadcasters. Community Media is increasingly recognized as a crucial element of social democratization by institutions like UNESCO, the World Bank and the EC. Our Media Center is to be acknowledged as a force for guiding the community’s development through new forms of public space and expression.
Our Vision:
The PCMRD has a singular vision for the current and future citizens of Palestinian society encompassing a manifold realization of our peoples’ potentials through a diverse range of projects and programs. In a world of proliferating media-forms and their consumption the necessity of media-skills with morally responsible attitudes is vitally important. To learn about the media in all its forms is also to learn about how the world we live in functions. With such emphasis on the possibilities of different media the center empowers people to communicate with independence and integrity.
Goals:
1 to encourage the free flow of information, at national and international levels.
2 to promote a wider and better-balanced dissemination of important social issues, without any obstacle to the freedom of expression.
3 to strengthen communication capacities in the developing countries in order to increase their participation in the international communication process.
4 to stimulate debate, activities and exchanges on the core issues of democracy, human rights and active citizenship.
Programs
- The Media Center resources include computers, multimedia stations, video labs, radio labs, photo labs and training rooms.
- We organize seminars, conferences and workshops on the importance of media in democratic societies.
- Ongoing workshops in computers, photography, radio, video and journalism organised.
- Alongside training, the Media Centers’ Audio/Video productions are directly developed with the local community and broadcasted through local media, as well as on the internet.
- The Media Center is currently looking at the ways in which it can finance an on-line radio station and the publication of a regular magazine.
- We offer IT education sessions to our youth which enables their media-competency.
Achievements
- Seminars, workshops and training creating participation in democratic practice with discussion of Democratic Processes, Human Rights, Understanding and Respect, Decision Making, Freedom of Expression, Equal opportunities, Gender issues, Active Citizenship, Participation, Budgeting Transparency and Accountability, Role of Law, Democracy and Media, Conflict Resolution, Networking and International Cooperation
- Open meetings with the local community: these discuss the topics of the day with as wide an audience as possible and increase the involvement of the community in different program activities. During these meetings, productions from the media center are broadcast and publicly discussed.
- Creation and support of a local band Black Revolution, created through one of our musical education sessions.
- Publications of specialized studies, researches and reports on democracy and civic issues through our open invitation to other organisations.
IPYL hopes that other organisations can use it as a tool for their programs. Since its inception the media center has produced more than 75 audio and video documentaries by the Palestinian youth that tackle community problems. Since its funding stopped in 2006, the IPYL has been responsible for its sustainability.
