YME is a free "creative commons" and open publishing platform for young media-makers worldwide.

Its purpose is to make it easy for any youth media organization anywhere to empower its members to publish their work online, and for the best of that work to get mainstream exposure.

It enables a critical mass of young creators and audiences to connect globally, independent of traditional media channels. Early emphasis will be on the 2004 US election.

This projects focus is on providing free media publishing tools, specifically:

• unlimited and universally accessible free hosting for youth-made media
• a suite of tools for using it effectively, collaborating with other users, and highlighting the best
• translation of interfaces to ensure access in as many languages as possible
• mainstream exposure for the best of it through Link TV and other television outlets
• and development of long-term financial value built around an engaged participant community

We believe that such an invitation to publish and share creations will facilitate an explosion of collaboration and participation, as an alternative to the culture of consumption that corporate culture feeds youth.

It also has the potential to engage young people in the upcoming US elections in new ways and on a large scale.

This is an historic opportunity to help a massive but diffuse and inaccessible global community of creators to auto-catalyze an ecosystem, founded on media justice, that could attract audiences that rival MTV's.
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(YME is an initiative of Media Venture Collective, a non-profit venture fund for media democracy. Donations are tax-deductible.)