Mission

As a non-profit research group, our organization collects and processes information for civil society organizations and advocacy groups. At the same time, understanding that the world’s media is the steward of vital information, we study and report on the mass and alternative medias and their roles in development and society.

Globalization has created a world that moves faster than any other before it, a world in which reliable information is crucial to making sound decisions. Faced with new policies in trade and economics, rapid movements of goods and people across oceans and continents, and quickly shifting cultural practices, governments make policies that affect every tier of the societies they regulate. It is imperative that everyone involved in policy formation—the citizens and their democratic representatives—have access to information they can trust.

Project Summary

The tsunami of 2005 created an enormous need for unbiased information in Sri Lanka, and it was this need that compelled us to form The Reclaim Initiative.

The tsunami’s devastation, of course, does not exist in a vacuum.  When it arrived, Sri Lanka was already dealing with pre-existing poverty, human rights violations, unjust labor practices, and an ethnic conflict, among other isssues. We knew that these forces would factor into reconstruction, and that we could not ignore them if we hoped to be faithful to Sri Lanka’s complexity. We also hoped, while the tsunami had the attention of the world’s citizenry, some of that attention might be diverted to preexisting issues as well.

We believe that a truly participatory democracy depends on the uninhibited flow of accurate, high-quality, accessible information.  For this reason, we work in two overlapping modes:

Information for Advocates
Non-governmental organizations often have a difficult time getting the information they need to do their work, particularly those organizations A) working to reshape or influence policy to better protect the disadvantaged, and B) working to design and implemen programs to improve the lives of those in need. Through collaborative research, reporting, and filmmaking, we fill some of the specific information needs of organizations that promote sustainable, locally appropriate solutions to development problems—from grassroots to international policy levels.

We also understand that any informed citizen can be an advocate for positive change, so when appropriate, we distribute our work through established media outlets as well.  You can look at our current and recent projects on our home page.       

Investigating Media Practices

It may seem obvious that people need information to make informed decisions.  Considering what the media is up against in Sri Lanka, however—market forces, political pressure, threats of violence, insufficient training, unreliable infrastructure, lack of editorial freedom—one can see why facts and good ideas don’t always make it to the public, and why the public’s views often go unheard by decision makers. By better understanding these dynamics and offering our findings to the discourse on media, we hope to be part of the process of understanding, reforming, and improving these systems.   

The Reclaim Initiative is affiliated with the University of California and the California Student Sustainability Coalition. The project team consists of a small development and research staff in California, two communications and research directors in Sri Lanka, a web master, and a dedicated group of student researchers at several UC campuses. The project also relies on a distinguished advisory board made up of prominent activists, academics, and development experts.