Voices of Diversity

Founded in 1996, "Voices of Diversity" helps underrepresented citizens communicate their views to their fellow Americans. We distribute 150 pieces a year by African Americans, Arab Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and persons with disabilities. "Voices of Diversity" aims to advance minority perspectives and issues, to help increase tolerance and harmony in America by introducing citizens to diverse views and information and to work collaboratively with new writers and organizations dedicated to ending all forms of discrimination

Black and Latino Voices

We send selections from "Black Voices" and "Latino Voices" of our "Voices of Diversity" series to African-American and Latino weeklies across the country every two months. The minority press reaches millions of Americans. These papers are seeking out quality material on current issues, and "Voices of Diversity" provides them with that. This project also helps facilitate dialogue between the two communities.

Queer Voices

The attitudes that lead to continuing discrimination against GLBT individuals are likely to continue until people are better educated about GLBT people and issues. One way to do this is through the media. Although it is improving, the media does not provide enough coverage of GLBT issues and perspectives. "Queer Voices" aims to bring more GLBT issues and perspectives to the op-ed pages of our nation’s newspapers.

Domestic and international issues

The Progressive Media Project distributes pieces on a range of domestic issues, including capital punishment, education, the environment, free speech, health care, housing, juvenile justice, labor, prisons, reproductive freedom, Social Security, welfare, and others.

Each week we distribute one piece on issues of peace and world security. In the last two years, pieces in this series have covered such topics as: the arms trade, chemical weapons, foreign trade agreements, the global economy, global warming, human rights abuses, hunger, immigration, international law, the International Monetary Fund, landmines, NAFTA, NATO, the nuclear arms race, the United Nations, and U.S. foreign policy.

Community Activism

The Progressive Media Project also serves the community. We hold op-ed clinics for Wisconsin activists with the support of the Wisconsin Community Fund and Community Shares of Wisconsin. And some of our clinics feature a speaker from one of Wisconsin’s leading newspapers, the Capital Times, to give another editorial perspective on what newspaper editors look for in an op-ed.

Environmental Advocacy

Toxic pollution and environmental degradation continue unabated, as the current administration pulls farther and farther away from sound environmental policy-making. Environmental awareness groups are left fighting rollbacks of laws intended to preserve the natural environment and limit toxic pollution from corporations. Environmentally sound policy-making is thwarted by corporate interests’ regressive policies. The issues are grave, and there are not enough strong voices speaking out for change. The Media Project is continuously seeking funding to bring environmental activists onto the op-ed pages of our nation’s newspapers and to train these activists how to write an effective op-ed. Both of these efforts are crucial to the success of environmental advocacy work