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Television Coverage About The Team
January, 2010: The PBS NOW Network - Soap Opera for Social Change
 There are places in the world where the success of a soap opera is measured not just in TV ratings, but in human lives.
NOW traveled to Kenya, where ambitious producers and actors hope one such TV show, "The Team", can help foster peace amongst the country's 42 official tribes.
Articles and Printed Media About The Team
July 10, 2010: What legacy will the World Cup leave for South Africa?
Perhaps the legacy of the tournament will be simpler but still powerful. In Africa, a continent rife with factionalism and hostility, soccer has risen to become a potent symbol of hope and healing. Social projects like Search For Common Ground abound. The Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit produces a ratings-smash soccer-based soap opera called "The Team" in a dozen African nations. The show follows the exploits of a pan-tribal football squad to explore delicate social, cultural and political challenges that beset the oft-disunited societies. If life follows art, and the soap opera's storylines foreshadow the fate of Cote d'Ivoire, Congo or Kenya, football might help the continent to continue rocking with joy for many years to come.
June 24, 2010: TV drama uses soccer to promote social change
While millions around the world watch their favorite soccer teams compete in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, another “team” is tackling social issues in the African nation of Kenya.
May 11, 2010: TheGlobalGame.com - Palestinian soccer drama—‘Team’ building for social change
The nonprofit Search for Common Ground has helped create versions of football dramas—all titled The Team—as a tool for conflict resolution in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and Morocco.
May 6, 2020: Second Act - Life After Hollywood, Part II: Storytelling to Change the World
As a television and movie writer and producer, Deborah Jones had the sort of first career in Hollywood that a lot of students in scriptwriting seminars only dream about.
May 2, 2010: Boston Globe - How soap operas could save the world
To mitigate ethnic tension and fight corruption in Africa, the conflict-resolution organization Search for Common Ground has created a soap opera franchise called ”The Team” about the trials of an ethnically and religiously diverse professional soccer club. Locally produced versions in Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, and Morocco have proved popular — nearly a quarter of Moroccans watch it.
April, 2010: New York Times - Easing Conflicts One Episode at a Time
The Search for Common Ground is doing its part to foster change with a dramatic television series called “The Team.” The show started in Kenya on radio in reaction to a disputed presidential election in December 2007 that unleashed several months of ethnic violence. With the help of a $6.5 million grant from Britain’s Department for International Development, Marks and his group committed to producing “The Team” in 10 countries.
January, 2010: ESPNsoccernet - Soccer plays a critical role in Africa
"The message is simple: If they don't play together, they won't score goals," Marks said. "Our show uses soccer to deliver a simple message to the nation: Citizens must work together and put aside old differences so the country can progress."
January, 2010: Soul Beat Africa - The Team Television and Radio Series - Kenya
Launched in May 2009, The Team is an edutainment television and radio series produced by the Media Focus on Africa Foundation and Search for Common Ground. Initiated in response to post-election violence in 2008, the series is designed to promote understanding and dialogue amongst different sectors of Kenyan society... January, 2010: CapitalFM.co.ke - Kenya's 'Team' gets US airplay
A Kenyan story has touched the lives of millions of Americans in the past week, portraying a very different picture from the machete masterpiece that claimed thousands of lives in early 2008...
December, 2009: Ashoka.org - Can soap operas be used for social change?
Ashoka Fellow John Marks, Founder of Search for Common Ground, is producing a new soap opera in Kenya called "The Team". The goal of the soap is to help foster peace amongst the country's 42 official tribes...
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