Knight International Health Fellow Mercedes Sayagues talked with IJNet recently about the challenges that exist for health journalists all over the world. At the top of the list, she says, are topics that are taboo - difficult to report because editors are often worried about publishing or broadcasting content that might be offensive. But she also sees hope in digital innovations that can make it easier to get important information out quickly.

A simple phone call can bring needed assistance to people who live in the remote regions of India, says a report by the Public Health Global Network. Reporter Augustine Veliath wrote about villagers who called CGnet Swara, the cellular network created by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary.

ICFJ and the Center for Sciences et Information Techniques (CESTI) have launched an online news platform for bloggers during Senegal’s national election season. The platform is hosted on the CESTI website and is aimed at creating a space for bloggers to report and share their stories on the election campaign, which began on February 5 and culminates with the presidential election on February 26. The platform is a result of a bloggers’ workshop organized by ICFJ and CESTI on November 10-11, 2011.

Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary delivered a TEDx lecture in Bangalore on how citizen journalism projects, like his CGnet Swara, are democratizing media in India.