Blog Post

Harnessing the Power of Social Media in Developing Nations

It is hardly news to say that social media offer unprecedented opportunity to empower change through collaboration. We’ve seen this in American elections and the Arab Spring, alike. With over one billion people now active on social media around the world, and two billion Internet users, it has never been this technologically easy to connect people and work together, the world over.

But what about the billions of people who aren’t active on these social media, or don’t have access to the Internet or smartphones? Are they completely cut off?

Debating the Values of U.S. and Pakistani Media

I never saw this trip to Pakistan with the International Center for Journalists as a one-time event, a go-and-come-home gig, something that was good for creating fodder for speaking engagements around Tallahassee and not much more.

I’m not much of a sightseer for the purpose of just seeing sights, either.

A Profile of Pakistan: Travails and Hopes

It was an extraordinary trip to Pakistan – a whirlwind two weeks filled with dozens upon dozens of meetings – meetings with government officials, news executives, journalists, NGOs and even an artist or two. We were wined, dined, gifted and feted. We were welcomed extravagantly, generously, sometimes lovingly. We made business contacts and we made friends. We saw amazing sights – from the ancient ruins at Taxila and extraordinary art to security checkpoints and blockades.

We learned that Pakistan is a complicated, feudal society.

Reporting on a Health Crisis in Rural Mozambique Sometimes Requires Action

Contorted with pain, the young woman struggles to get on the bike seat. Her husband gently pushes the bike under the blaring sun.

Remote Mozambique Relies on Radio for Health News

Mueda is where Mozambique’s uprising against colonial rule started, back in 1960. A memorial and a museum celebrate the event – but that pretty much exhausts the benefits Mueda has derived from its heroic past. Remote and poor, the district got electricity only last year.

Christmas Day Bombings in Nigeria: How Violence Hampers Efforts to Expand Health Coverage

It’s almost nine months into my fellowship in Nigeria, yet it seems like there is still so much to be done. Achieving more in the remaining few months will be less of a challenge if the country can find a way to better manage the snowballing religious and political crises. The Islamist terror group Boko Haram claims credit for much of the violence – and has not let up.

Christmas in Colombia: Newsroom Joins Religion and Rumba Mix

Here, December comes with an undercurrent that feels uniquely Colombian. The Christmas celebrations show a deep commitment to religion – as throughout the Western world. But they show the same deep commitment to rumba – that is, the Colombian expression for partying and having a good time.

Trip to Rural Mozambique Shows How Badly Medicine – and Media – Are Needed

The village health post was empty of patients when we arrived at one of the stops on our trip – around 4 p.m., after hours. So Zao Ali Issufo, a lanky, enterprising reporter from community radio in Mueda, Mozambique, set out to interview villagers.

$1 Million Fund Seeds New Media Innovations in Africa

I’ve crisscrossed the African continent over the past five months, clocking more than 27,000 miles as I’ve helped newsrooms come to grips with the new digital era. And wherever I go, I meet two to three journalists per day who think they have a solution to the malaise that paralyzes much of the continent’s traditional media.

In Ethiopia, Reproductive Health Journalism Requires Careful Presentation

Tigist Muleta has the kind of story I want all my journalism trainees exposed to. She could have been another statistic – a wife at 14 who finds that repeated pregnancies threaten the comfortable life she envisioned. Instead, a new awareness of health and reproductive choices helped turn her life around.

Although Tigist was quickly the mother of three, her relatives in Ethiopia’s remote district of Girar-Jarsso still advised her and her husband to have more children – considered wealth there. Then a community health worker taught the young couple about family planning methods.