Blog Post

Tools From SXSW That Could Improve Access to News and Information

For the past two years, I’ve gone to South By Southwest’s (SXSW) Interactive Festival in search of ideas and tools to bring to journalism.

How to Create 'A Vibrant Space for Media Innovation'

We invited everyone who wanted to rethink journalism to our city’s first Hacks/Hackers event, and drew about 120 people.

Less than two years later, at 1,700 members strong (and growing), we’ve held more than 20 events and a Media Party with keynotes, workshops and a hackathon. Hacks/Hackers Buenos Aires has become a vibrant space for media innovation. We believe many people in Latin America would benefit from participating in Hacks/Hackers, so I'm helping drive its expansion in the region as part of my Knight International Journalism Fellowship.

Tips for Effective Coverage of Immunization

Reporting on efforts to prevent infectious diseases through immunization is a key part of health coverage. Journalists play an important role in examining public health efforts, and in helping readers and viewers understand how and why vaccines are used.

Choices and Consequences in Kenya’s Election

Kenya’s national election resulted in victory for Uhuru Kenyata, a man charged with crimes against humanity in the International Criminal Court. His top rival, Raila Odinga, has petitioned the Kenyan Supreme Court challenging the election. As the nation waits for the court’s ruling, Knight Fellow Joseph Warungu reflects on the election’s implications.

“Choices have consequences.”

That warning to Kenyans, issued almost a month before the election by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson, played on the minds of many voters as they cast their ballots on March 4.

How a Journalist and Technologist Collaborated to Improve Maps for News

In the current news environment, journalists and developers are increasingly calling upon and benefiting from one another's skills and expertise.

The nearly one-year-old InfoAmazonia is a product of such a partnership–and a testament to the power of collaboration.

How to Overcome the Lack of Health Coverage in Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, where journalists usually vie to cover the economy, crime and entertainment, a new collective of 100 journalists and communicators is shining a spotlight on an often-neglected beat: health.

Ethiopia’s first organization of health journalists, the Addis Ababa Health Journalists Initiative, formed last month with the goal of boosting the quality and breadth of health coverage in the country.

Knight Fellow Moderates Historic Kenyan Political Debate. The Hot Issue: Land Reform.

Election campaigns in Kenya are normally noisy, lively and bloody. But this one had a difference. Instead of the usual three or four presidential candidates, there’ve been eight. There’s also been less bloodshed, but certainly more money spent in wooing the voter.

And for the first time ever, all candidates seeking the keys to State House – seven men and one woman – appeared together in public debates. There were three in February, broadcast live on radio and TV and streamed on the Internet.

Knight Fellow’s Project in Colombia Wins International Anti-Corruption Grant

The Monitor de Corrupción, a project that I initiated with the Consejo de Redacción as a Knight International Journalism Fellow in Colombia, won a mini-grant for social innovation from the 15th International Anti-Corruption Conference.

CNN India Bureau Chief Sees Journalism as a Difficult Path that Yields Great Rewards

CNN’s New Delhi Bureau Chief, Phillip Turner visited students at the 9.9 School of Convergence and World Media Academy to talk about his remarkable journalism career, including 30 years with the world’s first 24-hour news network.

The son of missionaries, Turner spent part of his childhood growing up in South India.

Colombian Media Rely on Mapping to Track Crime, Corruption, Environmental Issues

There have been changes in Colombia since I arrived here 14 months ago. Peace talks between the oldest guerrilla group and the government are beginning. A free trade agreement with the United States is in place, and a country once known for drug trafficking, violence and kidnappings is now seen as one of Latin America’s most attractive places to invest.

In a different way, we are invested here, too.

I, too, have instigated changes.