Charity TV station reports the news that mainstream media overlooks

Unhappy with the lack of coverage given to important humanitarian issues on mainstream media outlets, international aid charity Médecins Sans Frontières has created its own online channel, MSF.TV.

The internet has helped charities benefit from a variety of ways to encourage donations – take France-based TousDonateurs as an example with its ad revenue fundraising model – but awareness and engagement can still be a challenge. Unhappy with the lack of coverage given to important humanitarian issues on mainstream media outlets, international aid charity Médecins Sans Frontières has created its own online channel, MSF.TV. MSF has been helping to provide medical aid to the needy in war-torn or disease-afflicted locations since its inception in 1971. The new channel hopes to keep viewers informed of its activities as well as feature news and programming that will raise awareness of crises currently ongoing. Created by the Australian branch of the organization, the channel is hosted on YouTube and is on air 24 hours a day, broadcasting both pre-recorded programs and live interviews with those working in the field. The feed can be viewed live, or individual programs can be watched again at any time. The site also hosts a TV guide to let viewers know screening times. The video below acts as a trailer for the channel: MSF.TV acts as a way to give donors more information on the charity’s activities as well as providing a news stream of current events that aren’t covered elsewhere. How else could charities and non-profits exploit new media to raise awareness of important issues and drive donations?