Colombia

Election Observer Mission headquarters in Bogota

At Election Observer Mission headquarters in Bogota on Election Day.

Election Day in Bogota-citizens

Election Day in Bogota. Citizens look for their voting table.

Election Day in Bogota

Election Day in Bogota. Oct. 30, 2011. Police stand watch over polling stations.

Colombia political debate-tweeting it out

Natalie Gomez of El Tiempo's social media team sends out updates about the Oct. 27 debate between the top three candidates for mayor of Bogota.

Colombia political debate-setting the stage

Setting the stage for the debate between Bogota mayoral candidates Oct. 27, 2011.

Colombia donkey in Barranquilla

Donkeys are often used to cart vegetables, fruit and housewares for sale on the streets of Barranquilla.

Oct 102011

With Elections Looming in Colombia, Journalists and Election Officials Are Gearing Up

by Ronnie Lovler

A decision to observe a training session conducted by Colombia’s independent Electoral Observer Mission brought me from Bogota to Barranquilla for two days. The MOE, as it is known here, has had an ongoing presence in Colombia’s political life since 2006. One of the things they are doing as they get ready to observe the local elections is to host a crowd-sourced map with national scope where citizens are able to file reports of what they consider to be election irregularities.

Colombia: Use Crowd Sourcing Technology to Track Crime and Corruption

In Partnership With:

El Tiempo

In Partnership With:

Consejo de Redaccion

Knight International Journalism Fellow Ronnie Lovler is helping El Tiempo, Colombia’s largest newspaper, develop a website that uses citizen reports to map crime in the capital city of Bogota. Modeled after a similar Fellowship project in Panama, citizens and citizen journalists will post information on the map. Lovler will train El Tiempo journalists to use the map to identify trends and produce investigative stories about crime and violence. El Tiempo plans to expand the project nationally.

Knight Fellow Ronnie Lovler helped journalists in Colombia to use crowd sourcing technology to cover 2011 elections and the issues that mattered most to citizens.