Local Organization Embeds Reporters In Foreign Countries To Cover Relief Efforts [AUDIO]

Former local reporter Holly Wise launched a non-profit founded right here in Killeen, which does some pretty amazing work.

A former local news reporter and editor, Holly is now the head of VoiceBox Media, which partners with media outlets to cover news in foreign countries that they might not otherwise have the means or resources to cover. She was on the morning show talking about what the organization does and why she founded it.

As a journalist with more than ten years of experience (much of it spent here in Killeen), Holly said she was motivated to start VoiceBox media because of the lack of attention to vital stories happening around the world.

"When you turn on the television, most of the 'news' you see these days is focused on things that are very sensationalized, or celebrity-driven," Holly said. "As a journalist, I wondered, 'what are we over-looking? What is getting lost?"

Holly said it can be challenging in today's media landscape, to find in depth foreign news reporting. With budgets stretched tightly, more and more media outlets are cutting their foreign bureaus altogether, making news from troubled regions harder and and harder to come by.

So Holly said she decided to do something about it.

VoiceBox Media embeds journalists with nongovernmental organizations to tell the story of those working to alleviate global health, education and poverty crises. It sends passionate reporters to cover the work of non-governmental organizations abroad, telling their stories through words, photos and videos. These journalists then report on the work of the NGO/nonprofits and the people they serve through media partnerships within their own community.

Holly created the non-profit working from her living room, working for a local paper during the day and networking with organizations around the globe during her free time. Since founding the organization in 2012, she's already been to two countries and received an outpouring of support from NGOs, media groups and more. In February, Holly traveled to Kenya and covered the work of the Kenyan Kids Foundation, an organization founded by professional marathoner and 2012 Boston Marathon winner Wesley Korir and his wife:

Cherangany, a somewhat remote, rural area in western Kenya, is plagued by unemployment, poverty and illiteracy. Rising school fees make it impossible for some students to attend secondary school, which is the equivalent of high school in the United States. But the consequences of a lack of school funding starts long before the end of the 8th grade, or primary school.

Holly later went to Haiti in with a team of eight people from the Round Rock-based E412 Foundation.

Holly will be traveling to Ethiopia in November with Doma International. She will be reporting on the work of a team of medical personnel who are traveling to a remote village to work in two medical clinics for eight days.

Listen to Holly's interview with Harrison here now

For more information about VoiceBox Media, write to Holly at hwise@thevoiceboxmedia.org or visit www.thevoiceboxmedia.org.