"The project looks to make public the stories of comun Panamanians that act in an extraordinary way in the newschannel, Noticiero Estelar of TVN Noticias. The idea is to take advantage of the high reach and influence of the television channel to transmit positive and value based messages."

What will it do?
The project has been ongoing since November 2007 as a weekly tv news segment that airs every Thursday during the TVN nightly news.  The project objective is to showcase the stories of common Panamanians doing great things.  We hope to leverage the widespread reach of broadcast television in order to convey a positive message that motivates others to emulate this behavior and make a positive difference in their own lives, their families and their communities.  Within the very competitive “ratings driven” environment of broadcast television, the “Making a Difference” segment is an opportunity to promote positive and value driven messages.

Who/what will it benefit and how?
The “Making a Difference” tv news segment seeks to inspire viewers to have a more positive outlook about their own lives.  In seeing the stories of other fellow Panamanians that have made a conscious decision to do and accomplish great things in spite of adverse situations we hope to promote a “can do” attitude for change.  For this reason, the stories featured in the tv segment are of common people who most others can identify and relate to.

The protagonists we have featured in the “Making a Difference” tv segment have also benefited by revealing their stories given that often a connection is made with entities and individuals who can provide assistance and support in order to continue and even improve the great stories that are showcased.  For example, when we aired the story of a young boy who in spite of living a very difficult situation due to having lost his mother in a tragic bus accident, he is the best student in the class; the day after airing the story a local University called offering him a scholarship.

 How will it be implemented?
The Project is implemented with the use of our institutional web page http://www.tvn-2.com/noticias whereby viewers can nominate the potential stories to showcase in the “Making a Difference” tv segment.  Each Thursday during the TVN nightly news a different story is aired.  “On air” promotions are also cued during the week in order to make viewers aware that every Thursday is the day to expect the next “Making a Difference” segment.  Once we have gathered a significant number of stories, we plan to organize an online vote among viewers in order the select the most motivating and inspiring story and have an annual winner.  The winner would receive a significant prize conducive to the showcased story in order to provide motivation and support to continue “Making a Difference”.

What is your role?
In addition to participating in the selection of the stories and the production of the tv segments, more importantly I have made this segment a news department priority.  The segment has an independent “on air” promotion plan and also serves as a vehicle to promote the goodwill of our news organization to the community.

How it will be measured?
In the short term, the Project will be measured by the opportunities that are created for the people whose stories are showcased.  Eventually, I hope to promote better values and positive attitudes among the community. 
 
Does it meet the criteria for projects laid out in the project descriptor?
I believe so because it includes my passion for making a contribution to society through journalism and also it responds to the great need to communicate more positive and motivating messages in the Panamanian tv.

Why is this project worthy of ALI/ILI?
Because it represents a wonderful opportunity to leverage the resources and opportunities at my disposal in order to communicate value driven stories that motivate change in our society.