Request edit access
Preserving and Archiving Community Media Fellowship 2024

Applications Due November 30th (extended to December 4th)

Fellowship Description: 

Do you have many hours of media documenting community stories, cultural work, or activism  that need to be digitized and preserved? Have you been recording your group or organization’s history for a long time, but are not sure how to preserve it? Are you a community-based or led organization that’s interested in learning more about the ins and outs of media archiving and preservation?

The People’s Media Record invites you to join us for a nine-month fellowship to build archiving and preservation skills and plan alongside a group of your peers for the long-term care of local neighborhood, community, and movement histories. We know that people trying to preserve community media face many barriers. We offer this fellowship to you because we believe that you deserve to be supported and empowered in this work. From March to December of 2024, you will meet with a small group of fellows to engage in training in archiving and preservation, and to consult with practitioners around the specific needs of the materials in your collection.

Training will be monthly, online and in-person, and will cover essential topics such as digitization, digital preservation, record management, metadata, copyright, and storage and handling. We will be offering a monthly stipend of $1,000.00 over the nine months to be awarded to each fellow ($9,000.00 total). 

Program Goals:

The overall goal of this program is to empower you as a community media steward with the preservation and archiving skills necessary for the long-term care of your collection and build  trust, cooperation, and community around these practices in Philadelphia. By the end of this program fellows will: 

1.    Gain proficiency in preservation best practices, from digitization and cataloging to metadata and copyright, to ensure the long-term viability and accessibility of media materials. As part of this work, fellows will produce a detailed preservation plan for their collections.

2.   Learn how to navigate limited funding and resources to ensure the sustainability of their projects, and gain skills and knowledge in advocating for the importance of community media preservation, especially for marginalized groups.

3.   Develop relationships with other community media practitioners while fostering cooperation and knowledge exchange.

Who is a good fit for this fellowship, and how to apply:  

  • PMR welcomes applications from people who are responsible for taking care of a substantial collection of community media. Community media is wide-ranging: it can include the production of community media centers like PhillyCAM and Scribe Video Center, community newspapers like Philadelphia Gay News, the recording of performance and open mic series, and even podcasts.

  • PMR especially welcomes applications from people whose collections focus on at least one of the following formats: analog audio, analog video, digital audio, digital video, print, and digital photographs.

  • PMR especially welcomes people with limited formal expertise and training in archiving and preservation, and those who experience individual, organizational, or structural marginalization from educational opportunities.

  • PMR especially welcomes applications from people working within groups or organizations that either do not have funding for, or which have limited funding for, archiving and preserving their media content. 

Applications will open on October 27th, and are due on November 30th, 2023 (extended to December 4th), and selected fellows will be notified of acceptance by mid January, 2024. Applications will be selected by a committee made up of staff, advisory board, and community members.

Sign in to Google to save your progress. Learn more
Next
Clear form
Never submit passwords through Google Forms.
This form was created inside of Peoples Media Record.

Does this form look suspicious? Report