Mobile Stories International team

Mobile Stories International is the result of an effort of a large team. Meet not only the people you see in the videos but also all those who work in the background – create the content, build the website, coordinate the work of schools, consult and help ensure the quality of the course and the platform.

Video instructors

Ana Ribera Garcia-Rubio

Editor-in-Chief, Prisa Audio

Meet Ana

Ana is responsible for managing and editing Prisa Audio Podcasts in both Spain and Latin America. Coordinator and executive producer of all WEPOD podcasts. “My job is to listen to podcasts, to think about new ideas, to discover new talents and to welcome and accompany the creators of audio narratives in their creative processes. I also set up collaborative processes between the different Prisa Audio brands to stimulate the creativity of our professionals and produce the best audio projects in Spanish. I read, I listen, I discover.”

Her advice

Dánae Vílchez

Journalist

Meet Dánae

Dánae Vílchez is a Nicaraguan journalist who currently works as a Latin American researcher at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). She has an Erasmus Mundus master’s degree in journalism, media, and globalization, with a specialization in politics. She was previously a correspondent for openDemocracy and a reporter for the Nicaraguan news website Confidencial. She has been a fellow with the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF). Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Pikara Magazine, eldiario.es, and AJ+, among others.

Thomas Sparrow

International Correspondent

Meet Thomas

Thomas Sparrow is an international correspondent based in Germany. He also works as a fact checker and frequently travels to schools and universities in different countries to talk about critical thinking and media literacy. Sparrow is co-author of several books on European politics. He was previously a correspondent for the BBC in the United States. Sparrow grew up in Colombia and his family is half British.

Norma Hilton

Independent Journalist

Meet Norma

Norma Hilton has covered everything from murder suicides to K-pop to war and conflict zones, on-the-ground and remotely. After graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, she covered murder suicides and domestic violence for the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting and worked as a producer for WNIN’s ¿Qué pasa, Midwest? podcast. Since then, she’s worked as reporter for the Investigative Journalism Bureau and as a digital writer for Plan International Canada.

Lidia Pedro

Video Journalist

Meet Lidia

Lidia Pedro has 15 years of experience in video journalism, as a team leader, manager, field producer, and reporter. Lidia has been covering breaking news but also in-depth stories across Latin America, Europe, India, Middle East and Africa. She is also a PhD Candidate at the University of Wollongong researching the challenges of female video journalists in the field and their private sphere.

Her advice

Uschi Jonas

Fact-checker, CORRECTIV

Meet Uschi

Uschi Jonas has a master’s degree in social sciences and has worked as an editor and reporter in online newsrooms since 2015. She has been part of the fact-checking team of the German independent media outlet CORRECTIV since June 2020 and has been a team leader since May 2022. At the same time, she has been studying environmental sciences at the University of Hagen since June 2021.

Marcy Burstiner

Editor, News Decoder

Meet Marcy

Marcy is an editor who works with both professional and student journalists for a global news site News Decoder. She is professor emeritus at Cal Poly Humboldt in California where she taught journalism for more than 15 years. Marcy is the author of “Investigative Reporting: from premise to publication” and was awarded the James Madison Freedom of Information Award in 2018 by the Northern California chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. For her teaching, the California Journalism Education Coalition named her California Journalism Educator of the Year in 2010. As a journalist, she covered technology and finance for thestreet.com, legal affairs for the San Francisco Daily Journal and international trade for the San Francisco Business Times. She has a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School.

Simone Åbacka

Photojournalist

Meet Simone

Simone Åbacka is a photojournalist based in Finland. Her work has been published in Finnish papers such as Vasabladet, Huvudstadsbladet and she has also worked with the Finnish National Defence. Simone is focused on press journalism as well as longer documentary narratives that discuss different topics in society.

Matt Drange

Journalist, Business Insider

Meet Matt

Matt Drange is a senior correspondent based out of Business Insider’s San Francisco bureau. Matt previously reported on money and power in Silicon Valley for Protocol, The Information, Forbes magazine and the Center for Investigative Reporting. He’s received dozens of journalism awards and most recently was honored with the First Amendment Coalition’s Free Speech & Open Government Award. In 2019, Matt was named the best young business journalist in the United States by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW). He sits on SABEW’s First Amendment Committee as well as the Freedom of Information Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists. Matt’s work has been published by ProPublica, The Guardian, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, Pacific Standard and elsewhere. He holds a master’s degree from the Columbia Journalism School and teaches journalism at his alma mater, Cal Poly Humboldt.

Milja Ångerman

Journalist, Vasabladet

Meet Milja

Milja Ångerman is a journalist at Vasabladet, the local newspaper in Vasa, Finland. She has reported on a wide variety of topics, but at the moment focuses on making content from articles to social media and creating news videos. “What I love about working as a journalist is that no day is the same and you learn so much when you meet new people almost every day.”

Advisory group

Klinta Ločmele

Media literacy expert / Docent,

University of Latvia

Meet Klinta

Dr.sc.comm. Klinta Ločmele is a docent of the Department of Communication Studies of the University of Latvia, and researcher at the Advanced Social and Political Research Institute. Experienced media literacy trainer. Led the IREX Baltic Media Literacy Program at the University of Latvia (2020-2023) and worked in the Media Policy Division of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia (2015-2019). In the early stages of a career immersed in journalism.

Tamar Gabisonia

Senior Regional Manager,

IREX

Meet Tamar

Tamar Gabisonia currently serves as the Senior Regional Manager at IREX, where she facilitates coordination, learning, and collaboration across different regions, managing teams in multicultural environments. Tamar has extensive experience adapting IREX’s Learn to Discern approach to different contexts and audiences, including youth and adults in Georgia, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Indonesia, Africa, and India. She has been supporting L2D trainings as a lead trainer across different regions. Tamar has been with IREX since 2011 when she joined the team as a Senior Journalism Education Officer and worked closely with journalism schools in Georgia to improve curriculum and boost the capacity of student media operations. Tamar holds an undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature from Tbilisi State University and graduate degrees in Public Administration from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs and in International Educational Development from Columbia University.

Martin Bott

Teacher, 

Realgymnasium Rämibühl

Meet Martin

Martin Bott is originally from Scotland and studied in Glasgow and London, but has been an English teacher at Realgymnasium Rämibühl (RG) in Zurich, Switzerland, since 2008. He leads the English-language group in the school’s “Media Week” project, which was how his and the RG’s collaboration with News Decoder began.

Natālija Šindikova

Innovation Manager,

Digital Innovation Lab at RFE/RL

Meet Natālija

Natālija Šindikova is an Innovation Manager of Digital Innovation Lab at RFE/RL. A journalist by education, Natālija now works in graphic design and has strong experience working with online media, as well as educational media literacy initiatives. Previously, she worked as an Art Director for the most popular news site in Latvia Delfi.lv. She has also contributed to the design and user experience of the media literacy online course VeryVerified.eu as well as its promotion materials.

Elaine Monaghan

Professor,

Indiana University’s Media School

Meet Elaine

Elaine Monaghan has worked in international journalism since 1993. For Reuters, she was a correspondent in Russia; chief correspondent in Ukraine, Belarus and Ireland; and U.S. State Department correspondent. She joined The Times in 2002 as Washington correspondent. Currently she is professor of practice at Indiana University’s Media School and is supporting Reuters’ coverage of the Ukraine war.

Project team

Lotta Bergseth

Co-Founder,

Mobile Stories

Meet Lotta

Lotta Bergseth is a social entrepreneur and experienced photographer, bringing extensive background from prominent Swedish newsrooms like Metro and Dagens Industri. As a co-founder of Mobile Stories (2015) and Voice4you (2017), Lotta has been at the forefront of innovative projects aimed at empowering young people. Since 2019, she has been instrumental in expanding Mobile Stories through a Google.org funded initiative, “Empowering Young People with Media and Information Literacy (MIL)”.

Lotta has also dedicated herself to education, delivering lectures to students and teachers, and developing various educational resources, including lesson plans, ethical guidelines for online conduct, and digital courses for schools. She co-authored the book “Digital kompetens och källkritik i praktiken”, published in 2019 by Sanoma publishing, which is widely used by teachers, librarians, and in teacher education.

Currently, Lotta leads the EU project ProMS under the Voice4you association providing MIL education to schools in Finland, Romania, and Ireland. Lotta is responsible for development of the tool, implementation and partly the content production.

Jenny Sköld

Co-Founder,

Mobile Stories

Meet Jenny
Jenny Sköld is co-founder of the non-profit association Voice4You and Mobile Stories AB, and has in the past 7 years been a social entrepreneur with focus on implementation of the Mobile Stories tool, impact measurement and strategic communications. She has been leading several Google.org funded Voice4You projects, implementing and adjusting the Mobile Stories tool for schools in hard-to-reach areas. Jenny is co-author to the book Digital kompetens och källkritik i praktiken, published in 
teacher training colleges in Sweden. Her and Lotta’s work with the Mobile Stories tool has been described in the governmental report Democratic Dialogue in a Digital Age Carl Heath, and in the knowledge overview Understanding Media Literacy (MIL) in the Digital Age. A question of Democracy, edited by “Unesco professor” Ulla Carlsson.
In the ProMS project Jenny is the Project Manager focused on coordinating and ensuring that the ProMS project is delivered successfully, on time and on budget. Jenny is also responsible for the implementation of the Mobile Stories tool in pilot schools, obtaining feedback from schools and communicating it back to the product owner, and for dissemination and feasibility on a European market. 

Maria Krasinski

Managing Director,

News Decoder

Meet Maria

Maria manages operations and partnerships at News Decoder. An ardent believer in the values of global citizenship, she’s worked in experiential education, youth media and cultural diplomacy for nearly 20 years and has facilitated cross-border exchanges for hundreds of youth and professionals from more than 100 countries. Maria also provides operations and administrative support for this project.

Previously, Maria served in the Peace Corps in Tbilisi, Georgia, where she worked with a civil society NGO on fundraising, digital storytelling and youth citizen journalism projects. As Vice President of WorldChicago, a partner of the U.S. State Department, Maria convened local and global leaders to share knowledge and build connections, and founded Youth Diplomats to offer substantive global experiences for teens. She also held positions at Street-Level Youth Media and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum.

A former Jeopardy! contestant, Maria is a published illustrator of two books, Art Hiding in New York and Art Hiding in Paris, with a third book in production. She holds a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees from the University of Chicago.

Sabīne Bērziņa

User Experience Manager,

News Decoder

Meet Sabīne

Sabīne is a media literacy curriculum and tool developer, as well as a journalist with nine years of experience in the media industry currently working for News Decoder. Her main focus is on the Mobile Stories project where she leads English language content development and coordinates research on learning goals and user experience. Sabīne also works as a freelance journalist, mainly for the Estonian newspaper Postimees reporting about the most important events in Latvia.

Previously, Sabīne was a Program Engagement Coordinator in the U.S. Department of State program “Media Literacy in the Baltics” administered by IREX. She coordinated the content creation of an online course VeryVerified.eu and blended learning lessons in five languages used by thousands of learners in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Prior to that, she worked as a disinformation reporter and a fact-checker at the Baltic Center for Investigative Journalism Re:Baltica.

Throughout her career, Sabīne has worked for online and print media, as well as public radio and TV in Latvia. She got her master’s degree in the Erasmus Mundus Journalism program at Aarhus University and the University of Amsterdam and spent a semester at the University of California, Berkeley as a visiting student researcher.

Chloé Pété

Communications & Project Officer,

Media & Learning Association

Meet Chloé

Chloé leads the Media Literacy/Media Education activities, events and projects along with supporting the day-to-day management of the Media & Learning Association. She is responsible for the delivery of several Erasmus+ projects and other MIL projects. She supports project ideation, incubation, coordination and dissemination. Graduated with a Master in Cultural Studies, a Master in Western Literature, and a Degree in Art History, she has worked mainly in the coordination and mediation of cultural projects, such as several contemporary art festivals and exhibitions in Belgium and France. Due to her studies and professional background, she also has some experience in research and project development. Within ProMS – Chloé leads the delivery of dissemination activities, outreach and the promotion and distribution of Mobile Stories.

Sally Reynolds

Chief Operating Officer,

Media & Learning Association

Meet Sally

Sally Reynolds has been working part-time as the Chief Operational Officer since October 2015 at MLA. In this capacity, she has overall responsibility for the day-to-day management of the association and reports directly to the MLA Board of Management. Through her work in the association, Sally has been actively engaged in various media literacy activities for several years and is currently the Director of Media Literacy for EDMOeu as well as being an observer in the European Commission’s Media Literacy Experts group. She was also a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Tackling disinformation and promoting digital literacy through education and training in 2022 which drafted guidelines for teachers and is an active member of EMIL, EPRA’s media literacy taskforce as well as leading and supporting several media literacy projects funded by the European Commission and EMIF. Sally also works regularly as a reviewer and evaluator for the European Commission. Within ProMS – Sally provides senior-level supervision and support to the project and MLA’s contributions.

Alexandru Ciocan

Country Coordinator,

Forum Apulum

Meet Alexandru

Alex is the editor in chief of Gen, revistă, one of the „sister-projects” of Gen, știri. A former Romanian language and literature teacher, he was involved with ”Forum Apulum” for seven years. In this time frame, his main focus were projects developed in Romanian high schools related to promoting civic engagement and media literacy. Given the background, some of the projects were connected to education through art, one of them being Gen, revistă. In the ProMS project he is the in-country coordinator, assisting the four chosen high schools from Romania in working with the Mobile Stories platform.

Johan Glimskog

Partner,

Tritonite AB

Meet Johan
Johan leads the development and implementation of the Mobile Stories platform. His primary role is working on the development and support of the live platform, collaborating with the team to fulfill our vision and requirements for the project.
As the Partner and CTO at Tritonite AB, Johan brings over 20 years of experience in the tech industry. Tritonite AB specializes in delivering cutting-edge technology solutions tailored to the unique needs of startups and enterprises.
Their expertise spans modern technology stacks such as Node, React, GraphQL, and Python, allowing them to build robust, scalable applications. They are actively working with advanced AI technologies, developing solutions that incorporate Large Language Models, AI agent frameworks such as LangChain, and vector databases to create more intuitive and responsive systems.
They also support numerous projects across various domains, always striving to deliver exceptional value. Johan’s role involves overseeing the development and implementation of these projects, ensuring that they meet high standards of quality and innovation.

Eileen Culloty

Assistant Professor,

Dublin City University

Meet Eileen

Eileen Culloty is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communications and deputy director of the Institute for Media, Democracy, and Society at Dublin City University. Her research interests concern disinformation, media literacy education, and public media. Eileen coordinates the Ireland Hub of the European Digital Media Observatory and is co-chair of Media Literacy Ireland. She coordinates the research strategy aimed at measuring the increase of knowledge and confidence in discerning quality information after the use of Mobile Stories.

Ciarán Cronin

Project Officer,

Scoilnet

Meet Ciarán

Ciarán Cronin is a Post-Primary Project Officer with Scoilnet.  Scoilnet, the national portal managed by the Department of Education in Ireland, serves teachers and schools by providing open educational digital resources which includes media literacy. Ciarán works with the national coordinator to facilitate the Mobile Stories project across Irish schools. 

Amy Cheshire

English as a Foreign Language Consultant

Meet Amy
Amy is a native English language consultant with over 15 years’ experience as a teacher of English as a foreign language, freelance translator and proofreader. She has taught English in Spain, Latin America and France and worked for a long list of high-profile customers and institutions, including the European Parliament.

She helps ensure consistency, level suitability and language standardisation for the Mobile Stories media literacy tool. She is also involved in compiling glossaries and proofreading classroom activities and worksheets in English.

Kaja Andrić

Editorial Intern,

News Decoder

Meet Kaja

Kaja Andrić is a third-year Journalism student at New York University. She is also studying Romance Languages with a concentration in French and Italian. Kaja is News Decoder’s editorial intern since January 2024. She has written for The New York Times as a stringer during the Trump Trial and student protests over Gaza. Previously, she was a correspondent for the Florida Weekly newspaper’s Palm Beach community chapter. In 2022, she was Florida Scholastic Press Association’s Writer of the Year.

Kaja also contributed to the Mobile Stories project, where she helped edit videos and write educational articles.

She looks forward to working on reportage that connects the unsung stories among us, in all corners of the world.

Emelie Hahn

Lead teacher,

Gränbyskolan, Uppsala, Sweden

Meet Emelie

Emelie is a lead teacher at Gränbyskolan, Uppsala, Sweden where she teaches German and Social studies. She is also an author and has written the book “Världen i klassrummet – från det lokala till det globala” together with Charlotta Granath. She is an eTwinning ambassador for Sweden and has many years of experience in working with international projects, both eTwinning and Erasmus+. Emelie gives lectures and workshops on various themes, for example, democracy and values, digitalization and internationalization in symbiosis, nationally and internationally. She consults for the Prince Couple’s Foundation and their platform “Lajka” (https://lajka.prinsparetsstiftelse.se/) and has received the Swedish Prize “Guldäpplet”( https://www2.diu.se/guldapple/pristagare/emelie-hahn/), European Language Label and other educational prizes. 

Emelie has collaborated with Mobile Stories for several years. For the English version of the platform, she led the cross-border exercise and teachers’ guide development for the eTwinning network and other educators.

Patrick Coffey

National Coordinator,

Scoilnet

Meet Patrick
Patrick Coffey is the national coordinator for the www.Scoilnet.ie initiative in Ireland. Scoilnet is the Department of Education’s national portal for teachers and schools whose main remit is to provide open education digital resources. The provision of resources to support media literacy is a component of Scoilnet’s services and Patrick coordinates the engagement with  participating Irish schools in the Mobile Stories project.
With a background in web usability Patrick also worked as a sports journalist with a Sunday newspaper for over 20 years.