Blog Post

Foreign Exchange Brings Impressions of Home

I would have looked up Ndubi Mvula, the Zambia Daily Mail's Livingstone bureau chief, in any case. His health reporting had been mentioned to me several times and Livingstone has the highest rate of HIV in the country. The stories there are important, and I looked forward to working with him to tell them in depth. And it's nice to know someone in a nice place. Adding to the fun, though, was that he had just come from my place -- all over the place, covering the most critical American presidential election in either of our memories.

Use UHCA to learn - through experience

Editors Note: Fellow Chris Conte work towards sustainable impact with UHCAIn late 2007, when I learned that I would be coming to Uganda to train and support health journalists here, I sought advice from Bobby Pestronk, the longest serving and one of the most highly respected local public health officials in the U.S. “The first thing you need to realize,” he told me, “is that nothing you do is going to make a difference.”

He was talking mainly about health, where lasting improvements only come with time. But his bleak comment applies to journalism too.

Periodistas deben contar historias de nueva manera, con herramientas digitales

Entre el 15 y el 19 de marzo, 20 periodistas becados de México, República Dominicana, Argentina, Perú, Chile, Brasil, Bolivia, Colombia, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Estados Unidos, El Salvador y Guatemala coincidieron en el Curso Herramientas Digitales para un Efectivo Periodismo de Servicio Público organizado por la Universidad de Guadalajara, México, y el International Center for Journalists.

Bloguero exitoso gana poco dinero

Daniel Lyons, autor del blog The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, dice que a pesar de que atrajo a cientos de miles de lectores, no podía monetizar sus esfuerzos.

Lyons señala muchos otros ejemplos de blogs con alto tráfico que casi no rinden.

En mi búsqueda continua por nuevos modelos de negocios para periodismo, su columna (traducido en español de Newsweek) fue una desilusión.

Dr. Vongo's Powerpoint Tells the Other Side of the Health Care Story Here

Dr. Vongo clearly gets a kick out thinking people don't expect him to use a power point presentation to tell his story. He also enjoys pointing out that in a recent conference on leadership in the Zambia AIDS epidemic, he was one of the only -- if not the only -- speaker to stay within the 15-minute time limit.

"People think of us as the bad news," he says with a chuckle.

By "us" he means traditional healers -- the herbalists, diviners, spiritual counselors and birth attendants that 80 percent of people seeking health care turn to first in Zambia.

Los medios de España han vivido el año más horrible

Las cuentas de los grandes medios certifican el peor año que se recuerda | Pierden todos los medios encabezados por la prensa y ni la todopoderosa televisión se salva de la crisis | Más de dos mil periodistas han sido despedidos | Sólo internet ofrece esperanza para 2009, un año que ha empezado peor que el anterior

The Elephant in the Room Illustrates the Story of an Epidemic

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — "If you live on a small farm, as I do, your last prayer at night is that an elephant won't find your maize field," Dr. Mannasseh Phiri told an audience of African health journalists today. "It will wipe it out."

Phiri is a quietly compelling speaker and so he had the audience's attention as he went on to describe the feeding habits of elephants.

With small snouts and small mouths, they can only take in a little at a time, so they eat all day long. And as they search for food, they walk quietly; they don't run.

Knight Fellow visits Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Kenya

Editors Note: Rachel Jones visits Maai Mahiu Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Kenya.When I agreed to accompany Nairobi Star Reporter Wacui Makori to the Maai Mahiu Internally Displaced Persons Camp, the date of our journey didn’t register initially. But waking up on the morning of Friday, March 13th, the irony hit me right between the eyes.

My first trip to an IDP camp occurred on July 7, 2007—7/7/07, which was considered a “lucky” day around the world.

Finally in South Africa!

Editors Note: Fellow Mia Malan returns to South Africa.

Journalism in Bolivia

Greetings from Santa Cruz, Bolivia! The carnival is over and routine has come back to the capital of the eastern part of the country. Santa Cruz was paralised for one week, with thousands of people in the street drinking, throwing water and painting the walls, dancing with loud music... It was really crazy.Today starts a very interesting workshop organised by the ABOCCS, the association that integrates the main university graduates in communication, in Santa Cruz.