2010

Large Print Books Profiles Bookshare Member Jessica Pinto — June 29, 2010

Large Print Books profiled Bookshare member Jessica Pinto and linked to a YouTube video of Jessica and her mother.

Radio Canada Covers HRDAG Chad Report — May 23, 2010

In a story entitled "Hissène Habré, le Pinochet Africain," Radio Canada covered the study by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) showing that former Chadian president Hissène Habré was well informed of the hundreds of deaths that occurred in prisons operated by his security forces. Read more about this report here.

Foreign Policy Magazine Posts Story about HRDAG Chad Study — March 9, 2010

Reed Brody, counsel and spokesperson for Human Rights Watch, has written an article in Foreign Policy magazine entitled "Inside a Dictator's Secret Police," which cites an HRDAG report on human rights violations in Chad. The HRDAG study, "State Coordinated Violence in Chad under Hissène Habré, A Statistical Analysis of Reported Prison Mortality in Chad's DDS Prisons and Command Responsibility of Hissène Habré, 1982-1990," shows that former Chadian president Hissène Habré had detailed information about the hundreds of deaths that occurred in prisons operated by his state security force, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS).

The HRDAG report is based on thousands of documents generated by the DDS itself. The analysis could be critical in the long delayed prosecution of Habré who has been accused of killing and systematically torturing thousands of political opponents from 1982 to 1990. Read more about this report here.

Colombian Press Reports on HRDAG Analysis of Violence in Casanare — February 23, 2010

The Colombia Reports news site has reported on an HRDAG study analyzing violence in the Colombian department or state of Casanare from 1998 to 2007. Entitled "NGO Seeks to Stop Conflict Victims Falling Through the Cracks," the story documents HRDAG's February 2010 study analyzing the patterns of violence in Casanare. The study uses a technique called Multiple Systems Estimation (MSE) to calculate the magnitude of these violations. By analyzing multiple datasets containing all known cases of violence, HRDAG analysts were able to estimate the number of killings and disappearances in Casanare that were never recorded. Read more about this study here.

AP Quotes HRDAG's Patrick Ball on Haiti Victim Statistics — February 11, 2010

The Associated Press has quoted HRDAG director Patrick Ball regarding efforts to estimate the number of victims impacted by the earthquake in Haiti. The story includes Ball's observation that accurate data on victims is extremely difficult to gather in such circumstances. "One of the things that distinguishes a disaster like this is a complete breakdown in communications infrastructure," said Ball. "So how are they going to know the difference between who is dead and who is missing?"

HRDAG Chad Analysis Covered In Huffington Post Story — February 10, 2010

In story for the Huffington Post news site entitled "Justice Denied In Africa," Human Rights Watch spokesperson Reed Brody cites HRDAG's study showing that former Chadian president Hissène Habré was well informed of the hundreds of deaths that occurred during his regime in prisons operated by the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS) state security force.

"A report on the documents released last week by the Human Rights Data Analysis Group of the Benetech Initiative found 'a clear communication and command link' between Habré and the DDS and showed that Habré received 1,265 direct communications from the DDS about the status of 898 detainees," writes Brody. "The documents listed 1,208 dead prisoners, confirming what victims told me — that most of those who entered Habré's dungeons, including one at the presidential compound, never came out alive." Read more about this report here.

Radio Netherlands Covers the Case Against Hissène Habré — February 10, 2010

Radio Netherlands has broadcast a story about the case against former Chadian president Hissène Habré. The report includes information about the recent study released by HRDAG showing that Habré received detailed information about the hundreds of deaths that occurred in prisons operated by his state security force, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). Read more about this report here.

Human Rights Watch Cites HRDAG Analysis — January 29, 2010

Key analysis from Benetech's Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) was cited in a press release from Human Rights Watch on a complaint filed by torture survivors and the families of those who died from torture during the regime of former Chadian leader Hissène Habré's. The complaint charged Habré with crimes against humanity and torture and asked a Senegalese prosecutor to investigate their claims and file formal charges against Habré.

The case is based on documentary evidence and well as the testimony of victims and those who worked for Habré. The complaint alleges that Habré created and controlled a political police force, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), which systematically tortured political opponents and members of ethnic groups perceived as hostile to his regime. In 2001, Human Rights Watch discovered a cache of DDS files in its abandoned headquarters in N'Djamena, Chad. Among the tens of thousands of documents were daily lists of prisoners and deaths in detention, interrogation reports, surveillance reports, and death certificates. A preliminary analysis of the data by HRDAG showed that a total of 12,321 different victims were mentioned in the documents, including the deaths in detention of 1,208 individuals.

Christian Science Monitor Covers HRDAG Comments on Human Security Report — January 25, 2010

The Christian Science Monitor has quoted HRDAG director Patrick Ball in a story which examines the recently released Human Security Report. The story, entitled "New Study Argues War Deaths Are Often Overestimated" notes that Ball agrees with the authors of the report who assert that estimates made by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) of deaths due to conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo are flawed.

But in the blog item posted below, HRDAG researchers question the HSR claim that "nationwide mortality rates actually fall during most wars" and that "today's wars rarely kill enough people to reverse the decline in peacetime mortality that has been underway in the developing world for more than 30 years."

Anita Gohdes, Megan Price, and Patrick Ball write that they are deeply skeptical of the methods and data used by the HSR authors to conclude that conflict-related deaths are decreasing. "We believe that the authors should examine their own data on mortality related deaths with the same rigor with which they critique the recent IRC surveys," write the HRDAG researchers. "If they did this, they would find that they have inadequate information to conclude anything about the trend in war-related lethality in recent decades." HRDAG's concerns about the estimates of war deaths by the HSR authors are discussed by noted statistician Andrew Gelman on his blog.

Jeune Afrique Publishes Story on Violations During Habré Regime — January 2010

The news magazine Jeune Afrique has published a story about the analysis of human rights violations which occurred during the regime of form Chadian president Hissène Habré. The story cites the report released by HRDAG showing that Habré knew about the hundreds of deaths that occurred in prisons operated by his state security force, the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS). Read more about this report here.

Mother Jones Covers Benetech's Martus Software — January 2010

In a story about ex-patriot Burmese men in Thailand who document human rights violations in Burma, Mother Jones included information about Benetech's Martus secure database software. The story, "For Us Surrender Is Out of the Question," reports that Martus is used by Bumese human rights activists to collect and encypt information about human rights violations in Burma. You can read the entire story here.

Chronicle of Higher Education Features Comments From Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman — January 7, 2010

In a story entitled, "Charity and Business Will Blend in New Ways by 2020," Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman is quoted about the future of nonprofit organizations. "'The for-profit whose job is only to make money or the nonprofit which is a charity, those are two poles. In reality there is an entire spectrum in between them,' says Jim Fruchterman, chief executive of Benetech, a nonprofit technology organization in Palo Alto, Calif. In the next 10 years, he expects changes in federal and state laws to foster the development of L3C's. 'Someone should be able to operate a business and have a social mission without getting sued by shareholders for not making the maximum [amount of] money,' he says."

2009

Press Covers Agreement between Flat World and Bookshare — December 14, 2009

Flat World Knowledge, the leading publisher of expert-authored, open content textbooks, became the first college textbook publisher to supply its digital textbooks to Benetech's Bookshare digital library. This announcement was covered by a range of media outlets including VentureBeat, Publishers Weekly, The Chronicle of Higher Education and eBookNewser. eBookNewser noted that the usual method for providing textbooks to visually impaired students is to hand-scan them. According to Betsy Burgess, director of marketing for Bookshare, this process "introduces errors into students' textbooks, and can cost anywhere from 11 to 1,000 dollars per book. Flatworld is the first to provide digital files from the beginning, so this means that all those kids who have print disabilities and are dropping out will have better chances at an eduction."

Wired News Features Bookshare Member — December 11, 2009

In a story entitled, "Copyright Owners Fight Plan to Release Ebooks for the Blind," Wired News featured blind Bookshare member Dan Burke who has a retinal disease. The story reported that Burke often "acquires books and poems at Bookshare, an online nonprofit offering about 60,000 titles in exchange for $50 in annual dues and other volunteer work. Burke says none of the rank-and-file commercially available e-readers, including the Kindle, are adequately equipped for the blind."

e-School News Covers Bookshare — December 3, 2009

eSchool News has included Bookshare in an article entitled, "Five key trends in assistive technology; convergence, portability, and customizability, define the next generation of AT devices for students."

Earthtimes Covers Bookshare India Partnership — December 3, 2009

Earthtimes has covered Bookshare's Indian partnerships to build India and worldwide collections of digital books.

Mumbai Mirror Covers Bookshare in India — November 18, 2009

In a story entitled, "Crusading for the Right To Read," the Mumbai Mirror covered efforts to make Bookshare's digital library accessible to readers with print disabilities in India. The story notes that, there are ten million blind people in India and at least three million people with mobility and learning disabilities. "Currently, less than three per cent of the regular books are available in a format (Braille or audio) accessible to them," said Prashant Naik, project manager of X-RCVC (Xavier's Resource Center for the Visually Challenged, an NGO that has partnered with Bookshare). "Bookshare also benefits slow learners and people who cannot turn the pages of a printed book. For instance, those without upper limbs, if taught how to access a computer with the help of a foot-switch, can read books on this online library."

Colombian Press Covers Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis — November 2 , 2009

The Colombian news magazine SEMANA has published an article citing research by the Benetech Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) estimating the number of people who have disappeared in the Colombian department or state of Casanare. The article, entitled "The Invisible Crime," (English translation) reports that the Colombian Prosecutor's Office has confirmed 25,000 cases of forced disappearance throughout Colombia including 591 disappearances in Casanare.

The article notes that HRDAG estimated in its 2007 study "Missing People In Casanare" that the total number of missing persons in Casanare from 1986-2007 is 2,553. HRDAG's analysis suggests that between thirty and forty percent of missing persons in Casanare were unreported during this period. Read more about HRDAG's analysis of disappearances in Colombia.

Benetech Covered By Smithsonian Magazine — September 22, 2009

Palo Alto, CA — The October issue of the Smithsonian magazine features a detailed story about Benetech's ongoing work with the Guatemalan National Police Archive. The article recounts how Benetech's Human Rights Program is collecting a random scientific sample of the estimated 80 million archive documents and entering the information into Benetech's secure Martus database. The collected data contains critical information about the involvement of the National Police in the killing and disappearance of an estimated 200,000 people during Guatemala's 36 years of internal conflict. Dr. Patrick Ball, director of Benetech's Human Rights Program, notes in the article that the archive presented a unique challenge that was "longer-term, more scientifically complex and more politically sensitive" than any of Benetech's previous projects.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Bulletin Today Covers Bookshare — June 8, 2009

The Bulletin of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) covers Benetech's accessible Bookshare library, entitled "Making Books Accessible for Those with Disabilities."

BBC and Business Press Cover Benetech's Guatemalan National Police Archive Project — May 9, 2009

Palo Alto, CA — The BBC has aired an extensive two-part investigative report on the Guatemalan National Police Archive project entitled The Atrocity Archives. The story includes comments from Dr. Patrick Ball, Director of Benetech's Human Rights Program.

The Guatemalan National Police Archive project was also covered in a recent story about Benetech by Investor's Business Daily. Thr story notes that Benetech's Martus and HRDAG teams have provided technology to collect, organize, secure and back up data collected from the archive which includes an estimated 80 million records. The recovered police records, which were the subject of Guatemalan government report last month, could provide critical information about the estimated 200,000 people dead or missing during Guatemala's 36-year civil war and help bring perpetrators to justice.

2008

ABC-7 News Interviews Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman — October 29, 2008

The San Francisco ABC News Affiliate ABC-7 featured Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman in its story about the recent Social Capital Markets Conference in San Francisco. The conference, which was attended by over 650 people, featured Benetech as a socially responsible business. Reporter Teresa Garcia also interviewed Kevin Jones of the Good Capital venture capital firm and Tim Freundlich who of the Calvert Social Investment Foundation who is also a founding principal of Good Capital.

Bookshare Covered By Indian Press — October 26, 2008

Several media organizations in India recently covered Benetech's new partnerships with Indian organizations to support the Bookshare library and provide accessible digital texts. These partnerships will help International Bookshare begin to serve India's ten million blind people, three million of whom are children. The Times of India posted a story titled For Print-Disabled Reading Best Sellers Is Just A Click Away and the Hindustan Times ran a story about the Online Library for The Blind.

The story in the Indian Express, Bookshare Inks Pact With Three Organizations in India, quoted Dr. Taraporevala, Director of Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) in Mumbia which will manage the registration of qualified Bookshare members in West India. "Print disabled persons cannot be kept away from the printed books and hence the partnership will play a key role," said Dr. Taraporevala.

High Technology For Low Vision

September 22, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — The Health Journal section of the Wall Street Journal included Benetech's Bookshare service in a story entitled High Technology For Low Vision. The story notes that readers with low vision can use the text-to-speech engine in the BookCourier portable reading device to read books from Bookshare. The story quoted Eleanor Roth who has lost much of her vision to retinitis pigmentosa and now volunteers with Lighthouse International, a nonprofit organization that offers vision rehabilitation services. "It's the best thing ever invented," said Roth of the books on her portable device.

Benetech Cited at Web 2.0 Expo

September 18, 2008, New York, NY — Tim O'Reilly, founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media, Inc, mentioned Benetech as one of several innovative nonprofit organizations during his keynote at the Web 2.0 Expo in New York City. O'Reilly said that these nonprofits upheld lasting values that he recommended that engineers embrace. He told the attendees to: follow your heart, work on the the problems that matter, and create more value than you capture. You can read a blog entry from a blogger who attended.

HRDAG Work in Chad Cited

September 15, 2008, Washington, DC — Key analysis from Benetech's Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) was cited in a statement from Human Rights Watch regarding a complaint filed by torture survivors and the families of those who died from torture during the regime of former Chadian leader Hissène Habré. The complaint charged Habré with crimes against humanity and torture and asked prosecutors to file formal charges. The case is based on the testimony of victims and documentary evidence including tens of thousands of documents from Habré's police force discovered in an abandoned police headquarters. A preliminary analysis of the data by HRDAG showed that a total of 12,321 different victims were mentioned in the documents, including the deaths in detention of 1,208 individuals.

Bay Area ABC New Affiliate Covers HRP

July 21, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — The local ABC News affiliate KGO-TV Channel 7 has broadcast a story about Benetech's Human Rights Program and it's work at the Guatemalan National Police archive. You can watch the report here.

Benetech's Frontline Report Featured in Film Festival

The Frontline/World annual "Heroes From A Small Planet" Film Festival will screen the recent PBS Frontline/World Report on Benetech's Guatemalan National Police Archive project. The festival focuses on stories involving social entrepreneurs and will feature a discussion with Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman who won a 1996 MacArthur Fellowship for his role as a pioneering social entrepreneur. The Skoll Foundation, which supports Benetech, is underwriting the Frontline/World broadcasts and online segments about social entrepreneurs.

Frontline Airs Story on Guatemala National Police Archive Project

May 27, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — The PBS television series Frontline/World aired an investigative report on the Guatemala National Police Archive project which includes interviews with team members from Benetech's Martus and Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG). Martus and HRDAG provide technology to collect, organize, secure and back up data collected from the archive which includes an estimated 80 million records. The largest known human rights archive in the Americas, the recovered police records could provide critical information about the estimated 200,000 people dead or missing during Guatemala's 36-year civil war and help bring perpetrators to justice.

The archive segment aired on the East Coast on May 27th and in the San Francisco Bay area on KQED Channel 9 on June 10th.

e-Campus News Covers Bookshare's National Press Event — April 30, 2009

e-Campus News, an online e-zine of eSchool News covers Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman's address to the National Press Club, entitled "More Books Coming To Students With Disabilities."

Benetech Cited In New York Times Social Enterprise Story

April 14, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — Benetech has been cited in a New York Times story about "hybrid" technology organizations that are defining a path between the nonprofit world and traditional for-profit ventures. Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman provides the lead quote for the article entitled, "When Tech Innovation Has a Social Mission," which appears in the Technology section of the newspaper. The story also appeared in the International Herald Tribune and on the Slashdot web sit. "There is a lot of discussion taking place right now about a whole new organization form around social enterprise," said Fruchterman in the article. "Many of these efforts can make money; they will just never make enough to provide venture capital rates of return."

eSchool News Covers Bookshare Text Reader

April 4, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — eSchool News has covered the recent partnership between Benetech's Bookshare service and Don Johnston to provide qualified print disabled students with a free text reader to access electronic books from the Bookshare library. Entitled, "Free Text Reader to Help Print-Disabled Students," the story notes that the Read:OutLoud Bookshare Edition Text Reader will serve an estimated 1 to 3 percent of the total K-12 student population-specifically, those who receive special-education services and who are unable to read standard print materials owing to physical limitations.

HRDAG Included In Science News Report on Humanitarian Statistics

March 29, 2008, Palo Alto, CA — Dr. Patrick Ball and Romesh Silva of Benetech's Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG) are included in a Science News story about statistical tools that help guide responses to human rights crises. The report, entitled "Humanitarian Statistics," describes HRDAG's analysis of deaths during the Indonesian occupation of Timor-Leste from 1974-1999. HRDAG's analysis for the Commision for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation concluded that the country suffered more than 100,000 deaths beyond what would have been expected in peacetime and that this rate of mortality was not driven by direct violence but rather famine-related deaths.

The New York Times Magazine Profiles Dr. Patrick Ball

Palo Alto, February 17, 2008 — Dr. Patrick Ball, the director of Benetech's Human Rights Program, was described by the The New York Times Magazine as "one of the most admired figures in the field." The article, entitled The Forensic Humanitarian, documents Dr. Ball's ongoing analysis of homicide rates in Colombia and describes how statisticians calculate human rights violations that have not been counted. "Statistical methodology has parted the veil of indifference and ignorance, and the true state of affairs . . . has begun to emerge," writes Dr. Ball and his colleagues in an earlier study in Peru cited by the magazine.

Dr. Patrick Ball Recognized as Cutting Edge Human Rights Statistician — Palo Alto, CA, January 29, 2008

Palo Alto, February 13, 2008 — The Christian Science Monitor has published a lengthy profile of Dr. Patrick Ball, the director of Benetech's Human Rights Program. The story entitled A Human Rights Statistician Finds Truth In Numbers documents Dr. Ball's role in analyzing some of the most prominent large scale human rights violations in recent history - including the migration of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Kosovo. Dr. Ball presented this data as an expert witness in the case against former Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Bookshare Student Users Profiled by Assisitive Technology Organization — Palo Alto, California, February 6, 2008

A group of accomplished middle school students who use Benetech's Bookshare service to help improve their reading comprehension, have been profiled by the assisitive technology organization Closing The Gap. The group's newspaper, which reviews assistive technology for children and adults with special needs, has published a story about Bookshare members at the Corte Madera School in Portola Valley, California. Written by Ann Harrison, Benetech's Director of Communications, the story documents the school's successful efforts to download Bookshare texts to student laptops and introduce a software program that reads the books aloud in a human voice. "I was amazed to see how engaged they were. And the types of books they have, I have never seen them reading before," said Joel Willen, principal of the Corte Madera School. "I have been in education a long time and I think this is something incredibly powerful that I wish I had as a teacher a long time ago. It is really going to revolutionize learning a for a certain group of kids."

San Francisco Chronicle Covers Presentation by Patrick Ball — Palo Alto, CA, January 29, 2008

Dr. Patrick Ball's presentation at the Technology in Wartime conference has been covered in a story by the San Francisco Chronicle. Dr. Ball, who serves as Chief Scientist and director of Benetech's Human Rights Programs, was invited to speak by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) which hosted the conference at Stanford University.

John Glass Radio Interview — Palo Alto, CA, January 23, 2008

The Kentucky Council of the Blind (KCB) radio talk show interviewed Bookshare's Customer Support Manager John Glass about the expansion of Bookshare's services to print-disabled readers. The broadcast is available online.

2007

New York Times Quotes Benetech CEO On Charitable Giving For A Financial and Social Return — November 12, 2007

The New York Times has quoted Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman in a holiday Giving Section story on Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who are using their business acumen to transform their charitable giving to mission-oriented investing for both a financial and social return. The story, "With Sudden Wealth, the Desire for Sudden Impact" includes Fruchterman's observation that an increasing number of people are deploying capital in for-profit initiatives that have a social outcome.

"Within a 10-mile radius of Palo Alto, there are a couple of thousand families that could give $50 million to a social cause and fundamentally change some issue," Fruchterman said. "You could do a lot with $50 million, or even $10 million. You could cure a disease, or revolutionize services to an impoverished part of the world."

Hadley School for the Blind partners with Bookshare —November 1, 2007

A local newspaper in Winnetka, IL recently covered Bookshare's partnership with The Hadley School for the Blind, which provides tuition-free distance education programs for 10,000 blind students and their families each year. The story notes that Hadley has established a volunteer program that will create a scanned library of recommended reading from Hadley courses and books about Braille. Bookshare will include these texts in its online library that lets people with print disabilities, such as blindness or low vision, scan books and exchange them legally through its website. Hadley students have free access to Bookshare thanks to a $32 million five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education that gives all U.S. students with print disabilities access to this library without charge.

Bookshare Award Covered in the San Jose Mercury News — October 19, 2007

The San Jose Mercury News has published a lively story about the U.S. Department of Education's $32 million five-year grant to Benetech's Bookshare project. The article gives well-deserved credit to Bookshare alpha volunteer Carrie Karnos and collection Development Manager Claire O'Brien who see to it that Bookshare members have access to the latest bestsellers and educational books. The story quotes Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman who notes that thanks to the grant, Bookshare will likely be adding more than 500 books a week to its site, or more than 100,000 new volumes over the next five years.

Stanford Magazine Profiles Jim Fruchterman —July/August 2007

The Stanford Magazine has published a profile of Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman entitled Geeks For Good. Fruchterman was a PhD student at Stanford and together with another Stanford student, built a reading machine for the blind that became the first of many social technology projects from Benetech. The article presents Benetech's Bookshare, Route 66 Literacy, Miradi, Martus and Human Rights Data Analysis Group projects which "harness Silicon Valley's engineering expertise for social benefit." It also talks about the landmine detector project, which was recently put on the back burner at Benetech because of political difficulties getting access to and exporting the needed technology. The article concludes with Jim's vision of giving back to society through technology delivering social benefits.

South African Webzine Features Martus and Analyzer — March 21, 2007, South Africa

Independent Online Technology, a South African webzine, features Benetech technologies Martus and Analyzer in its article, Open Source used in fight for human rights.

Benetech Tools Highlighted In Guatemala Police Archive Project — March 3, 2007

The San Francisco Chronicle has published a feature article highlighting Benetech's role in providing technology tools to collect, organize and back up data from the ongoing Guatemalan National Police Archive project. The story, Guatemala Struggles To Find War Crimes Justice, notes that the recovered police records could provide critical information about the estimated 200,000 people dead or missing during Guatemala's 36-year civil war and help bring perpetrators to justice.

Benetech's Bookshare Service Profiled On CBS News — February 22, 2007

Benetech's Bookshare project was profiled in a feature story on the CBS Evening News today. Appearing as part of the CBS "American Spirit" series on innovations that scale to meet social needs, the program, entitled Tech Entrepreneur Helps Blind To Read, included Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman, Bookshare Customer Service Manager John Glass, Bookshare volunteer Carrie Karnos and Bookshare members Brian Miller and Priscilla McKinley of Alexandria, Virginia. Miller was pictured listening to his daily newspaper via Bookshare enroute to work on the Washington D.C metro. CBS producers say they have received many calls in support of the program.

• View CBS Evening News Interview Tech Entrepreneur Helps Blind To Read
• View CBS Evening News Internet Coverage
• View additional interview footage A Different Measure of Success

ITWorld Article Highlights Martus Project in Guatemala — February 7, 2007

The IDG News Service has posted a story about the Guatemalan National Police Archive project and its use of Benetech's Martus software. The story, Digging For the Truth which appears in the IDG publication ITWorld, features Jorge Villagrán of the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman Office which is examining the archive to determine the role of the National Police in Guatemala's 36-year armed internal conflict. Villagrán introduced the Martus tool to manage, analyze and encrypt a portion of the estimated 80 million documents in the archive. The story quotes Tamy Guberek, Benetech's Latin America projects coordinator, who notes that the Guatemalans were keen to secure their information with Martus. "They're very strict on data security," said Guberek. "They've taken a huge initiative to understand the tool and get the most out of it."

AccessWorld Interview — January 2007

An interview with Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman is featured in the January 2007 issue of AFB AccessWorld. Celebrating the Naming of a Genius: An Interview with Jim Fruchterman covers Fruchterman's 2006 MacArthur Fellowship and the expansion of Bookshare. Writer Deborah Kendrick also touches on Benetech's Route 66 Literacy service and Fruchterman's dream of of an inexpensive cell phone that delivers audio books and GPS coordinates. AFB AccessWorld: Technology and People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, is published by the American Foundation for the Blind.

L.A. Times — January 21, 2007
Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman is quoted in a feature story entitled Network Philanthropy that appeared this week in West, the Los Angeles Times magazine. The article, written by New American Foundation Fellow Douglas McGray, profiles the work of venture philanthropy pioneers Pierre Omidyar and Jeff Skoll. Benetech receives support from the innovative foundations launched by these two technology entrepreneurs, The Omidyar Network and the Skoll Foundation.

2006

Bookshare Volunteer Praised By Hometown Newspaper — December 6, 2006

Bookshare volunteer Matthew Devcich, who created an Eagle Scout service project that scanned and proofread 24 books, has been profiled by his hometown paper. The Fairfax County Times published a story entitled, "Helping Everyone Read," which described how Devcich recruited a group of volunteers to scan in his favorite books on thoroughbred racing. We congratulate Devcich for this well-deserved recognition.

"There is nothing wrong with a normal Eagle Scout beautification project, but he really went above and beyond to find something that will impact countless of people," said Debra Wright, a Boy Scout mother and volunteer for Devcich's project who was quoted in the story.

Benetech's Jim Fruchterman Profiled By IEEE Spectrum — December 2006

The IEEE Spectrum magazine has published an extensive profile of Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman in its December issue. Together with an introduction by Senior Editor Tekla S. Perry, the story "Doing Well by Doing Good," offers a detailed history of Benetech, its current projects, and Jim's role in promoting social entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley.

The IEEE Spectrum story quotes Chris Eyre, managing director of the Palo Alto venture capital firm Legacy Venture, who notes that 30 years from now, Benetech may be viewed in the same light as Fairchild Semiconductor which spun off many other companies and creative people who made their mark on the high tech community. "But why shouldn't Silicon Valley do for the social sector what it did for the private sector?" asks Eyre in the final sentence of the story. "Perhaps once again, one smart engineer with a little Palo Alto company will change the world."

Jim Fruchterman Urges Silicon Valley To Address Global Concerns — November 13, 2006

Benetech Founder and CEO Jim Fruchterman published an OpEd in the San Jose Mercury News urging Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and technologists to apply their skills to solve pressing social problems. Fruchterman's essay, Build Great Companies, Then Help Build A Great World points to current projects launched by high-tech philanthropists and encourages social entrepreneurs to link up with like-minded people.

Benetech Attracts Increasing Local and National Press — October 12, 2006

Since Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship last month, both he and Benetech have been the focus of increasing media coverage. In addition to reports about the MacArthur winners in The New York Times and USA Today, profiles of Jim have appeared in San Francisco Chronicle and the San Jose Mercury News which published a news story on the three Bay Area MacArthur winners, a business section feature story, “Genius Sees Connections,”and an exceptional column by Mike Cassidy entitled An Executive Does Well By Helping Others.

Betsy Corcoran, a columnist at Forbes also wrote about Jim noting that he is "one of a handful of people at the forefront of starting not-for-profit technology companies."

This month, the Social Enterprise Reporter published Jim's essay entitled High Tech Approaches for Building Social Enterprise. NewsForge has published an informative story about Benetech's use of free software. Just this week, Patrick Ball, the director of Benetech's Human Rights Program was interviewed again by NPR for a story about the Johns Hopkins University report estimating that 650,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the war. Watch for upcoming stories about Benetech in Science Magazine, Wired Magazine, the IEEE Spectrum magazine and the Bloomberg.com financial news site.

Benetech Reaps Benefits From Free Software — October 6, 2006

Patrick Ball, Benetech CTO and Human Rights Program Director, was interviewed by NewsForge about Benetech's use of free software. The story, High-tech Social Enterprise Reaps Free Software's Benefits notes Benetech's use of Ubuntu and other well-designed free software tools. NewsForge is the online newspaper for the Linux and Open Source community.

NPR Covers Guatemalan National Police Archive — August 28, 2006

National Public Radio's Morning Edition program broadcast an extensive feature story on the Guatemala National Police Archive project, which is supported by Benetech's Human Rights Program (HRP). Benetech helped the Guatemalan government and local NGOs develop a plan to analyze the archive's 80 million documents which document murders and disappearances during Guatemala's 30-year civil war. The story featured HRP director Patrick Ball, who noted that the archive contains..."by far, the largest single cache of documents that's been made available to a human rights process in history." A transcript and audio file of the story reported by NPR's John Burnettt is available at NPR - Guatemala Police Archive Yields Clues to 'Dirty War'.

Articles highlight the Martus project in the Philippines — July 2006

'High tech' reporting focal vs human rights violations -CHR, Minda News

"Martus" project is back, Philippine Information Agency

RP ahead in human rights observance, says CHR, Philippine Information Agency

Human rights agency gets software for database of cases, Sun Star

OSI Profiles Martus Use in Africa &mdash February 2006

The Digest of the Open Society Initiative for South Africa has posted an extensive story about Martus use in Southern Africa. The story, Information Communications Technology For Human Rights in Southern Africa, points to a recent survey that assessed the use of Martus in Southern Africa by human rights organizations, particularly women's NGOs.

African Open Source Mag Features Martus &mdash February 13, 2006, South Africa

Tectonic, Africa's first open source magazine, features Martus and Martus users in Kenya in the following article. Free software working for human rights

Wired — February 9, 2006
The citizens of East Timor who perished during Indonesia's brutal 24-year occupation of their island nation might have died unaccounted for, but a group of determined programmers and statisticians refused to let that happen. Read Wired Magazine's story on how Benetech's HRDAG documented over 102,000 civilian deaths in the former Portuguese colony.

2005

KPIX (CBS 5) Newscast — August 9, 2005
San Francisco-based television station presents a news story that highlights the work of Benetech’s Bookshare. Read the KPIX broadcast transcript.

Wall Street Journal Online — August 5, 2005
An article by Carl Bialikentitled "Counting the Civilian Dead in Iraq" features quotes from Benetech’s Dr. Patrick Ball. The writer notes that accurate death counts of civilians are often a casualty of war. "Those best positioned to collect the numbers — governments and military forces — often have an interest in manipulating civilian casualty counts, and any numbers they report would be questioned because of bias. As Patrick Ball, who has studied civilian deaths in Peru, Guatemala and Kosovo, told me in an email, "It turns out that the people who commit mass political violence are not generally in favor of careful, post-hoc documentation and statistical analysis." Read the story here.

San Francisco Chronicle — July 15, 2005
An article by San Francisco Chronicle reporter Maura Thurman entitled "Books ripped up, fed to online library for the blind" focused on Benetech's Bookshare library which contains more than 24,000 books. Read "Books ripped up..." article.

OneWorld.net Highlights Martus — July 15, 2005, Washington, D.C.

OneWorld, an online media gateway for informing a global audience about human rights and sustainable development, has highlighted Martus in the following article: Martus - Technology for Human Rights.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Newsletter — Summer 2005 Article highlights Benetech's Human Rights Programs and the impact they are having throughout the world. Read the MacArthur Foundation newsletter.

Stanford Business School Case Highlights Benetech — 2005

In this case, Benetech is used as one of three examples of how social entrepreneurs are counteracting market failure by "discovering and implementing new ways of creating social and environmental value by serving the needs of poor, disadvantaged, and neglected communities."
Read the Benetech Extract.

2004

Open Source Africa Covers Martus — December 2004

OpenSourceAfrica has written a case-study about Martus use by the Kisima Peace & Development Organisation, a human rights group in Somalia. Read the case study here.

Bangkok Post on Martus in Thailand — July 8, 2004

Thai newspaper the Bangkok Post recently published an article announcing the introduction of Martus to Thai NGOs. Read about Martus in the Bangkok Post.

Martus Makes Technology Headlines — May 31, 2004

The San Jose Mercury News features a major article on the Martus Global Social Justice Monitoring System in its Technology section. Read "Hiding in Plain Sight."

eSchool News Online: Bookshare offers 17,000 royalty-free texts — May 7, 2004

Thanks to the aid of Bookshare, a non-profit digital book service based in Palo Alto, Calif., educators have access to a library of thousands of titles... Read the eWorld News Online article .

Technology Benefiting Humanity — April 2004

The Association of Computing Machines' Ubiquity magazine featured this piece by Jim Fruchterman, offering an in-depth look at the vision of "Technology Benefiting Humanity" that drives Benetech. Read Technology Benefitting Humanity.

GeoWorld on Martus and GIS — April 2004

GeoWorld magazine looks at how the combination of Geographical Information System technology and the Martus Human Rights Bulletin System can fight human rights abuses.

The Power of Technology Social Enterprises — February 2004

An article by Jim Fruchterman providing an overview of the social enterprise model and its potential in combination with high technology. Published as part of the N-Ten Forecast Series.

2003

Business Week Highlights Martus — August 19, 2003

In its review of "Technology with Social Skills," Business Week Online takes a look at the impact Martus is having in the civil war-torn Philippines, where human rights groups use the system to bring abuse reporting into the computer age. Read Business Week Highlights Martus.

Placing People Before Profit — April 14, 2003

The San Francisco Chronicle discusses how Benetech's Martus Project helps social justice groups manage their information more effectively. Read Placing People Before Proit.

San Jose Mercury News — March 8, 2003

Article by Ian Stewart: “Saving Lives with Software” Describes how Benetech’s Martus software helps human rights groups protect sensitive information.

2002

Fruchterman Interviewed by The Technical Innovations Bulletin — September 2002

Vito Proscia, founder of Innovative Rehabilitative Technology, Inc. interviews Jim Fruchterman for the September 2002 issue of The Technical Innovations Bulletin.

Listen to the interview online (MP3).

Caltech News: From Smart Bombs to Reading Machines — 2002

One-time rocket scientist Jim Fruchterman ’80, MS ’80, now turned socially minded entrepreneur, says he wants to use existing technology to help people live their lives a little better. In some cases, a lot better. Read From Smart Bombs to Reading Machines. (PDF reprinted with permission.)

Lighthouse International — 2002

Lighthouse International explores the potential in ebooks and other accessible reading materials for blind or visually impaired people. The artilce points out that they may just make the Internet the new bookstore and library for such readers.

L.A. Times — March 14, 2002

The Los Angeles Times highlights the work of Patrick Ball in Kosovo, as he systematically culled data on civilian deaths from refugee reports, exhumations and witness accounts. The statistical portrait of the displaced, missing and killed reveals the timing and ferocity of fatal blows that fell across an entire province. Read the story entitled "Doing a Number on Violators."

The Chronicle of Philanthropy — March 7, 2002

The Chronicle of Philanthropy published an article which describes how Benetech's Bookshare project was inspired by Napster, but with one big difference. Unlike the embattled music-sharing service, Bookshare expects no legal fights over its use of copyrighted materials. Read Charity's First Project.... (PDF reprinted with permission.)

The Chronicle of Philanthropy — March 7, 2002

The Chronicle of Philanthropy posted an article in which Benetech CEO Jim Fruchterman reasons that the same technology that was used in smart bombs could be used to build a device that would read text for people who are blind. Read High-tech Tooling Around. (PDF reprinted with permission.)

The Palo Alto Weekly — February 27, 2002

The Palo Alto Weekly published an article describing a visit to the new quarters of Benetech. The story notes that visiting the technology nonprofit on California Avenue in Palo Alto is a little like touring a technology incubator circa 1997. One element is missing from the usual dot-com formula, however: a profit motive. Read the story entitled "Entrepreneur Applies High-tech to Social Problems." (PDF reprinted with permission.)

USA Today — February 21, 2002

USA Today published an article which profiles Bookshare member Rich Ring. The story notes that in the past week, Ring read five books -- and reading isn't a simple matter for Ring, of Portland, Ore., who is blind. The artilce points out that a new Web site called Bookshare should make Ring's life easier. Read the story entitles "Bookshare Opens up Choices for Disabled Readers."

Braille Forum — February 2002

Braille Forum published an article about Bookshare. Read the story entitled "Bookshare: A Community for Sharing and Reading."

San Jose Mercury News — February 14, 2002

Article by John Boudreau: “Improving Life for People with Disabilities” Describes the founding of Benetech as a social enterprise and covers current and future projects.

The Christian Science Monitor — February 21, 2002

The Christian Science Monitor published an article about Benetech noting that the Silicon Valley nonprofit technology developer has come up with Bookshare, a book-swapping website that brings more than 10,000 books to people with visual disabilities. Read the story entitled "Putting Books Online for the Visually Disable." (PDF reprinted with permission.)

Large Print Reviews — January 29, 2002

An article in Large Print Reviews about Bookshare notes that it is an innovative online community and book sharing program that is being shepherded into existence by Benetech, a nonprofit organization. Read the stroy entitled "Bookshare: An Online Library for the Print-Disabled."

2001

Braille Monitor — November 2001

Braille Monitor published an article about Bookshare. Read the story entitled "Bookshare: Books Without Barriers."

CNET — April 9, 2001

A CNET article describes the Martus Project and Jim Fruchterman's vision for Benetech. Read the story entitled "Open Source Plan Could Aid Tortune Victims."