16 Free Digital Tools Created by ICFJ Knight Fellows That Any Newsroom Can Use

By: Sara Menocal | 03/02/2017

The ICFJ Knight Fellows are global media innovators who foster news innovation and experimentation to deepen coverage, expand news delivery and better engage citizens. As part of their work, they’ve created tools that they are eager to share with journalists worldwide.

Two ICFJ Knight Fellows, Jorge Luis Sierra and Shaheryar Popalzai, are speaking at the 2017 NICAR conference in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 2-5. Sierra, a cybersecurity and digital technology expert, will help journalists take their secure communications and data protection skills to the next level. Popalzai will share his tips for creating immersive journalism stories through the use of 360° video.

As part of #NICAR17, try out these 16 free digital tools created by the Fellows and their media partners. The projects range from Popalzai’s step-by-step guide to help newsrooms get started with 360° video to Sierra’s Salama, a tool that assesses a reporter’s risk and recommends ways to stay safe. These tools and others developed by ICFJ Knight Fellows can help news organizations everywhere find stories in complex datasets, better distribute their content and train their journalists on the latest digital tools and technologies. If you try any of the tools or lead any new projects inspired by them, tweet about it to @ICFJKnight.

Main image CC-licensed by Flickr via jen_jen77.

Latest News

Sharon Moshavi on Journalism, Disinformation and Why Facts Still Matter

Sharon Moshavi, the president of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), recently joined the Ink and Insights podcast for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of journalism and the evolving information ecosystem. The interview, hosted by author and storyteller Sumit Sharma Sameer, touched on the growing role of AI in both enhancing and undermining journalistic work, the importance of audience-centric innovation and why young reporters must build subject-matter and tech fluency to stay resilient in the industry.

ICFJ Knight Fellow Sannuta Raghu Says “Fidelity to Source” is Vital When Using AI

Newsrooms globally have begun exploring ways to convert their journalism into different formats using AI: for example, from text articles to videos, podcasts, infographics and more. As they do so, the core challenge isn’t just accuracy – it’s rigor. Journalists strive to get facts right and attribute them clearly, avoid bias, verify claims, and maintain transparency. When AI is used to convert a work of journalism from one form to another, the same rigor may not carry over.

A Reporter's Guide to The History of Tariffs

For most of human history, governments have taxed goods crossing their borders. Tariffs — taxes levied on imports or exports — have financed empires, protected domestic industries, and punished foreign rivals. They’ve sparked wars, crashed economies, and redefined alliances. Yet today’s tariff war between the United States and the world doesn’t fit neatly into any of the old molds. Rather than being a tool to nurture domestic industry or fill government coffers, tariffs are now being wielded as weapons in a sprawling contest over global power and economic dominance.