2010 was a great year for Video Volunteers. We launched IndiaUnheard in March, with the idea of creating a kind community news service, a kind of grassroots Reuters. In March we trained the first thirty "community correspondents", one from each state in India. These were all community activists from very poor backgrounds, who came from districts in their states that are misrepresented in the media or are sites of conflict, like India's north east. They produce two videos a month on different themes and we broadcast them on our site. If you've not already, please check out IndiaUnheard.videovolunteers.org. Every day we publish a new video and you can interact with the community producers there, or on facebook and twitter.

One of the goals of IndiaUnheard is to generate revenue from the mainstream media. We believe that the poor can be winners in all the shakeups in the mainstream media today. The specific gap we are trying to fill is that there are not enough 'stringers' in the developing world. There is a huge dearth of reporters in the poorest parts of the world. And, well, our people are ready to take up the slack!

We are thrilled to say that the first TV station responded! About four weeks ago, we launched a weekly half hour news program with an Indian network called NewsX. It is the first time a news station has bought content directly from the poorest of the poor, and we are very proud! We believe this is a milestone in the history of efforts to democratize the mainstream media. You can watch the videos at the link below. The first episodes featured videos made by people like Rohini, a rural farming housewife from Maharashtra who has just taken out a loan from her microcredit group to purchase a computer. She is going to start a videography business to supplement her income from VV, and says this will make her VV work easier as the nearest computer is two hours away from her village. We feel we are helping to invent a new industry for the very poor -- and one that is based on their creativity and that brings knowledge and information to their villages.

One of the best ways you can take action is simply to watch a video, and post a comment either on our site or on facebook. Listening to these voices is the best way to say, "I believe in the rights of poor communities to speak out for themselves and be heard." We'll be sure to get you a reply from that community producer, who will be very touched to know people on the other side of the world are watching.

Links:

• episodes of our broadcast television show
• The IndiaUnheard site, where you can watch one new video a day
• our facebook page