ICFJ Knight Roundup: South African Drone Camp Takes Journalism to New Heights

By: Sara Menocal | 07/18/2016

As part of the Knight International Media Innovators blog, the ICFJ knight team will round up stories focused on how their Fellows are making an impact in the field. Find out more about the Fellows' project by clicking here. 

Drone journalism bootcamp in South Africa, global news network launches in India and more from the Knight Fellows in this week’s roundup.

Introducing drone journalism to South African newsrooms

South Africa’s first drone camp taught local journalists the basics of using drones for storytelling, including how drones can be used to create data for news stories. All participants received a starter drone to use in their newsrooms, and Code for Africa will provide about US$2,000 (ZAR30,000) in funding for the best drone storytelling idea. ICFJ Knight Fellow Chris Roper organized the three-day, hands-on event.

Digital-first launch for new Indian TV station

WION, “World is One News,” launched the beta version of its website in mid-June, becoming the first Indian TV station to begin its operations with a digital platform. The network aims to provide global news coverage with a South Asian perspective, including facts about how world events affect the region’s politics, economy and society in its stories. ICFJ Knight Fellow Nasr ul Hadi helped WION to set up and staff the newsroom to maximize the productivity of its digital operations. WION’s TV broadcasts are expected to start later this year.

“What it means to be part of Chicas Poderosas”

Dow Jones Chicas Poderosas Fellow Gaby Brenes wrote in a blog that her involvement in Chicas Poderosas has given her virtual reality and 360° video experience, exposed her to design thinking and taught her that failure can lead to personal growth. “It’s hard to define Chicas in one word: we’re a family, a network of overachievers, a bundle of innovation-driven masterminds...” Brenes wrote. Former ICFJ Knight Fellow Mariana Santos founded Chicas Poderosas, literally “powerful women,” during her Fellowship. The network works to bring more women into newsroom technology and leadership roles.

Software helps investigative journalists search nearly 3 million data sources and documents

Aleph, an open source codebase, helps reporters to search across large sets of documents and data tables for the names of people and companies. It also cross-references documents with people and companies named in listings of wanted criminals, global sanctions and other watchlists. Former ICFJ Knight Fellow Friedrich Lindenberg recently blogged about how Aleph has been used to power the search feature of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)’s Investigative Dashboard. The tool helps “individuals and organizations to keep track of what they know and what they need, but it can also be a way to create collaborations between researchers,” Lindenberg wrote. He developed Aleph during his ICFJ Knight Fellowship.

Main image taken at Code for Africa's first drone camp, courtesy of Michael Salzwedel via Twitter.

This post was also published on IJNet, which is produced by ICFJ.

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Sub-Saharan Africa

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