Guatemala | Photo: Andi McDaniel
One reason successful news shows such as “Marketplace” and “The World” rely on Round Earth Media to find and report stories is that we are on the ground. We have been known to take this to extremes, as when we descended deep below ground to interview miners in Potosi, Bolivia, or when we traveled more than 8,000 feet above sea level to report from Machu Picchu on how locals felt about Peruvian antiquities residing in New Haven, Conn.
Round Earth Media goes where people’s stories need attention, and where we can bring their voices to a wider audience. Many of these regions were once prominent players in U.S. foreign affairs but are now almost entirely forgotten. Those places include:
- A jungle in Bolivia where Vitalia Merida hid her coca from the drug police
- A bedroom in Pile, Ecuador, where Simon Espinal weaves authentic Panama hats
- A stage in Guatemala where Juan Jimenez’s rock band dares to sing in a Mayan language
- A street in Managua, Nicaragua, where psychologists are reducing the appeal of gangs
- A field in Junin, Peru, where the maca crop is attracting U.S. interest for its Viagra-like qualities
- A restaurant in Minneapolis where Somali Jamal Hashi prepares a sentimental goat cutlet
- A jungle in Laos where children scrounge for marketable scrap metal in the form of unexploded bombs
- A former leper colony in the Philippines where enterprising locals have revived the economy
- A farmhouse in Mumbai where a mother fears damnation for the daughters she refused to carry to term
In the weeks and months ahead, look for similarly unexpected pieces to emerge as a result of Round Earth Media’s reporting trips to East Africa, Bolivia and El Salvador.
Our stories reach millions of Americans.
Many more stories wait to be told.
