The Producers: Youth Against Violence

The Movement of Youth Against Violence (El Movimiento de Jóvenes Contra la Violencia - MJCV), a group of youth committed to violence prevention, launched a television program in June 2012 to raise awareness of some of the aspects of violence most commonly associated with youth in Honduras, including bullying and football fan clubs (barras).

The television program broadcasts two monthly episodes on the state-run network TNH’s Channel 8, reaching audiences throughout the country. MJCV is working to expand the program’s reach and movement’s membership through new media tools including Facebook and YouTube. Despite MJCV’s ambitions for growth, the organization's members have only basic, self-taught skills in scripting and producing the program “Youth Against Violence,” limiting the quality and clarity of the message they project.

To support MJCV’s efforts to improve the quality and caliber of their programming content and messaging effectiveness, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) issued a grant to the group to train volunteers in television production techniques and provide them with specialized technical equipment to strengthen their production, recording and broadcast abilities. An international broadcast television expert with years of experience at Voice of America trained 39 volunteers from the Tegucigalpa, La Ceiba and San Pedro Sula chapters of MJCV, including eight volunteers from Choloma, a priority area for the program. During the two week training, volunteers built their skills in writing for television, interviewing, camera operation, storyboarding, digital editing, on-air presentation, overall program production management and investigative journalism. 

MJCV volunteer Danilo Romero said the trainings allowed participants to improve their message and outreach, and facilitate new opportunities for violence prevention and interruption, beginning with two features on interruption. 

“Through television, we can carry a message and create a consciousness,” Romero said.  “But more than that, we can identify new ways to prevent and interrupt violence.”

Produced as part of the training, these episodes focus on involving communities in developing responses to the insecurity and violence they face on a daily basis. In future episodes, MJCV will include more reporting on community perspectives, and provide another source of information to inform future USAID/OTI activities.