Blog Post

Building a Consortium of Media Development Partners in Sierra Leone

Working with the media in Freetown can be enormously frustrating and tiring. But a quick comparison of where we were a few years ago shows just how far we’ve come.

During the brutal, ten-year war, Sierra Leone suffered a massive brain drain/exodus of journalists, teachers, business-people, politicians and young community leaders. In many ways, the country's media has never recovered. As a result, there are many challenges, both large and small.

Since the end of the conflicts in 2002, there’s been a proliferation of newspapers and radio stations.

Digital Journalism Center in Guadalajara takes hold with new leadership

Over two years, the Center, a project of the Knight International Journalism Fellowship program, offered 15 online training courses in Spanish to some 500 journalists from 22 countries as well as in-person technical training to more than 200 of the best performers. On a Saturday in December, the 15th class to pass through the Digital Journalism Center in Guadalajara, Mexico, had its recognition ceremony.

Creative ways to use communication technology in Panama

Journalists in Panama are using online technology to link colleagues from Panama city, Washington, D.C., an the provinces to discuss ongoing challenges to freedom of expression.

Journalists in Mozambique Tread a Careful Line Between Medical Fact and Local Lore

On the first day, only the girls in the afternoon shift at one classroom fainted. First one, then four, 20 by the end of the week. In the second week, the fainting spells spread to all the classes of the Quisse Mavota High School in the periphery of Maputo. Among its 4,475 pupils, only the older girls fainted. By the end of the second week, 120 girls were having fainting spells and these were spreading into the satellite school. Panic followed: parents, teachers and students alike were scared.

The girls explained that the ancestor spirits were upset.

Bizarre Stories Sometimes Trump Substance, Even in Malawi

When it comes to crazy things, nothing beats what Pilirani Lazaro, a 22-year-old peasant farmer from Kalaza Village in central Malawi, did recently.

It may sound stranger than fiction, but on November 21, he took a knife, went into the bush, cut off his testicles and immediately put them up for sale.

In Haiti, Journalists Score A Front Page Winner At Last

Six journalists from six different backgrounds come together to publish their first investigative report on international aid, making the front page of Haiti's only daily newspaper.

Citizens are reporting crime and corruption to Mi Panama Transparente

Dozens of reports are being sent to Mi Panama Transparente, the online crowdsourcing platform to track incidents of crime and corruption in Panama.

PANAMA, PANAMA -- The individual and his family were getting into a truck, ready to leave the Sumit park. Everything seemed to be normal except for the fact that the truck was marked with the legend ANAM (National Authority of Environment) in a Sunday afternoon, when no official vehicle are supposed to be on the streets for personal purposes.

In Haiti, A Vote for an End to the Chaos Brings More of the Same

2010 hasn’t been kind to Haiti. Not that the past few decades – or even two centuries – have been generous, but an earthquake, hurricane and the introduction of cholera have made these past eleven months particularly challenging. It’s also why there has been so much hype about Sunday’s much-anticipated presidential and parliamentary elections.

Sick Girl Highlights the Power of the Press in Peru

The first thing you notice when you meet Emily is just how tiny she is. She’s small because she suffers from a genetic disorder which makes it nearly impossible for her to defecate. The medicines to keep her alive cost about $12 a day… and her parents make only $10 a day between the two of them, while feeding three children.

Brazilian Blog Gets An Impressive New Home

Editors Note: A web address change for Mural, a leading citizen journalist blog in São Paulo.

Mural, the blog that comprises news stories and videos by more than 50 volunteer bloggers and citizen journalists, is moving today to a new address.