In June 2006, the department released its "Trafficking in Persons" report, which estimated about 225,000 victims are sold and transported yearly across borders in Southeast Asia.

Now, the Diversity In Media Association club in the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism is working to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Working with the Southeast Asian Children's Assistance Project and other international agencies, DIMA students will produce a series of public service announcements that will be aired in California, Cambodia and Vietnam.

"I'm horrified about the problem. To be able to use our skills as media professionals, it's personally and professionally meaningful," said Dana Coester, assistant journalism professor and faculty adviser to DIMA.

Coester said DIMA will use photographs taken in Cambodia by Neil Newfield, a documentary photographer and social work professor at West Virginia University.

"It's a very realistic project," Newfield said. "Students can put out materials that can cross cultures. It's not an experience that WVU students have very often."

"The infrastructure of Cambodia is so weak that after wars and Pol-Pot years, you might arrest somebody for sel ling children, but if they pay a big bribe, chances are they might get out," he said.

DIMA hopes to air these public service announcements by the end of Spring 2007. These announcements, according to Newfield, will be given free to television stations in Cambodia.

"It's a great opportunity to be able to participate in this project because not only will it look great on paper, but more importantly, it will help so many young lives," said Roman, a broadcast news major.

This is cache, read story here