UNHATE NEWS - The News You Would Like To See

A collaborative project with the United Nations Department of Public Information

Ponzano, 26th February 2014. There is an ideal world where people's problems are addressed and resolved. Starting to describe this world is the first step towards actually building it. The UnHate News project, an online platform that publishes only news we'd all like to see, starts from this principle in order to create a community of young people who actively participate in the news process: posting text, photos and video to produce “ideal” information in tune with the times.

Unhatenews.com, a new initiative of the UnHate Foundation (the heart of Benetton Group's commitment to social issues) in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN DPI) aims to involve young people from all over the world in proactively telling the story of our society, seeking in their values ​​- understanding, solidarity, openness to diversity (values shared by the UnHate Foundation and Benetton Group) - solutions to the world’s problems.

In overcoming their passive attitude to the filtered and mostly negative news that surrounds us, the young reporters will be able to demonstrate their ability to respond positively to society’s need for concrete action by constructing a scale of values ​​that represent them. The end result will therefore also provide us with research into the younger generations.

The reporters’ stories, evaluated by the editors of UnHate News, will be published on the website, where the community will be able to rate them. An Unhate Foundation Jury will select 10 news items from the 100 most popular and submit them to the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN DPI), which will then seek to match them with existing UN projects. The Unhate Foundation will, in turn, finance these projects.

UnHate News started on February 22 with three main news items, as conceived by Fabrica (Benetton Group's communication research centre), in collaboration with the creative agency 72andSunny Amsterdam. The idea was to provide the potential young reporters with some indications of method and style, such as accuracy, impartiality, independence, creativity and humour.

These news items, which have already gone viral thanks to their eye-catching images and videos, address three major current issues: rights for homosexuals (Gay Pride on Red Square in Moscow); child brides in Africa and Asia (with some ironic interpretations of what it means to be a couple); and the dispute between China and Japan over the Senkaku islands (with a beach volleyball challenge between two teams of beautiful girls).

Blending the boundaries between reality and fiction, over the last 10 days UnHate News has been published in the form of stories that are seemingly authentic but surprisingly positive – stories that you would like to see on the front pages. Through a narrative that is fictional and full of hope, the UnHate News draws attention to social injustice, promoting a vision of a different world.

The UnHate News project, which is closely integrated with social media and blogs that make the news, will conclude at the end of March 2014. Over the next two weeks, the internal jury will report the 10 top news stories to the United Nations. Two months later, 10 real projects supported by the UnHate Foundation will be ready to go and make a positive contribution – small but concrete – to efforts to change our world.

Erik Ravelo, creative director behind Fabrica’s social campaigns and author of the Gay Pride project, explains his vision: «I worked on the idea of organizing a Gay Pride in Red Square starting from a dream. The dream is of a world where people respect each other’s rights, where diversity is something to be treasured, where cultures, beliefs and political ideas thrive in a context of mutual respect. It’s not about making accusations, but of making a real call for tolerance, of understanding diversity. And we liked the idea that Red Square would represent this dream».

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