Media Archive Internship

Description

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 NGOs, community groups, and grassroots organizations around the globe.

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

The WITNESS Media Archive is a repository of over 5000 hours of video, both tape- and file-based, recorded and produced by human rights activists around the world over the past 20 years. The Media Archive is also a leader in the development of training resources aimed at non-professional archivists and activists who are managing their own human rights video collections.
Interns train under the supervision of an Archivist, performing a variety of hands-on tasks including cataloging, tape capture, digital ingest, research / reference, access provision, documentation of archival processes, training resource development support, and other administrative tasks for the archive.

Learning Outcomes:

• By the end of the internship, the intern will have learned how to:
• Create metadata for unpublished human rights video footage in a cataloging database.
• Handle and identify various video formats in the collection.
• Use software tools to capture, analyze, view, transfer video files.
• Understand the processes and components of a digital archiving workflow within a small organization.
• Liaise with content creators and program staff to acquire content for the archive.

Qualifications

• We are seeking interns enrolled in a graduate program related to moving image archiving and preservation, archival studies, or library/information science. We also review applications from recent graduates who may be seeking the same type of mentorship and educational focus related to their career choice or educational background.
• The following would be beneficial for entering our program:
• Familiarity with foreign affairs and international politics
• Strong written English skills
• Experience or strong interest in archival work & setting
• Experience with or strong interest in working with visual media
• Experience or skills in video production or digital media
• Fluency in Spanish, French or other foreign language
• Familiarity with Filemaker Pro
• Familiarity with metadata or cataloging standards or protocols

GENERAL INFORMATION

We require a minimum commitment of 2 months, for at least 16 hours a week. Internships are unpaid. Preference is given to intern applicants receiving credit at their educational institution. All internships are based in our Brooklyn office, convenient to the Atlantic Terminal / Barclays Center (2,3,4,5,B,D,Q,N, & R trains), LIRR, and the C (Lafayette) and G (Fulton) trains.