The Our City project is the first in a series of topic specific global journalism experiments committed to solving the most pressing problems of our time through local reporting on global issues. Instead of depending on a strategy of journalists from influential institutions fanning out to hot spots around the world to produce authentic reports, this experiment focuses on enabling local storytellers to report on global issues with training and assistance from the Knight Center for International Media at the University of Miami.
Fourteen University of Miami multimedia graduate students teamed with students from seven Knight Center for International Media partner schools in Africa and Asia to tell stories that personalize the UN Millennium Development Goals. Each team found personal local stories that shed light on critical global issues, including poverty, maternal health, environmental sustainability, universal education, gender equality, HIV AIDS and children's health.