SOURCE: Karin Schill - Örebro in Sweden.
"My name is Karin Schill and I’m a journalist. I have been involved with community television in Sweden since 2004. I first came in contact with community broadcasting when I was in college since the student TV organization I was involved with broadcast their programs on the local TV channel Öppna Kanalen Närke .
I joined the organization and after I had graduated from college I got a job there in 2008 managing a new youth project called Ung Arena. I have since then been the driving force behind three more youth projects for the local community broadcaster.
An important part of my job is to teach young people how to work with television productions. They get to learn how to film, how to conduct interviews, how to act in front of a camera and take up sound. These are some of my experiences from working with young women in the local community.
For my first project I was working with a 24 year old woman who was so camera shy that she didn’t want to be shown on television. After a lot of coaching I managed to convince her to interview the musical guest for one of the episodes of our talk show. After this she realized that she actually enjoyed being on camera and later went on getting a job at the public service channel in another part of Sweden.
For my second project I was working with two 23 year old women who have a learning disability that has separated them from their peers at school from an early age. It has made them feel excluded. By becoming involved with community TV these women were able to participate together with their peers without anyone even noticing that they had a disability. They made new friends. It made them realize that they could fit in and manage more things than they had thought.
For my third project I was working with two sisters who were 17 and 19 years old. They had difficulties at school and didn’t feel like anyone listened to them. By being a part of the script writing team for a mini TV-series that we were producing these women found a way to express themselves and realized that they did have a voice.
By being a part of community television these women have been empowered and their lives have changed for the better.
Photo Credits:
The first big group photo : Bosse Burgren
The second one : Matilda
The third one: Elin Aslaksen