Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for microgrant funding of up to US$5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.

As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, Rising Voices sees a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighbourhoods in major cities around the world. The organisation intends to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to under-represented communities in the developing world.

The deadline for application is January 18 2009.

Click here for more information.

Successful projects will be prominently featured on the Global Voices website. Grantees are expected to host regular workshops to train participants how to start and maintain a weblog, upload and share digital photographs, and produce basic videos. Grantees are also required to post regular project evaluations and updates to the Rising Voices website.

Press release from David Sasaki.