News

Cyberattacks on Eve of World Press Freedom Day Highlight Importance of Digital Security

A recent cyberattack against a news website in Panama, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day, shows how journalists and bloggers who try to reveal corruption, electoral rigging and inefficient public policies become the target of digital warfare.

How to Improve Coverage of Technology in Africa

Technology is thriving in Africa. In just over a decade, the region has become the one of the most connected via mobile, experiencing the fastest growth in mobile subscribers. The world’s tech giants are investing in the region. And an active tech community is pioneering ways to rewire the media. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from reading the news.

The Art of Managing Interactive Journalism Projects

An attractive, informative infographic or other interactive product can be the satisfying end result of a digital team's hard work.

But former Guardian interactive designer Mariana Santos says the process of getting there is just as important.

“For a team, it’s as much about the trip as it is about arriving,” says Santos, an ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellow.

Using Drone Journalism to Cover the News in Remote Areas of Africa

Kenyan digital journalist Dickens Onditi Olewe wants to help journalists across Africa improve their coverage from hard-to-reach places by giving them an “eye in the sky” aerial view.

But instead of expensive helicopters, he’s interested in low-cost drone technology, which he says has the potential to revolutionize media access to frontline events and stories in remote areas.

How HacksLabs Will Accelerate Data-Driven News Startups in Latin America

The idea for HacksLabs, a new platform to accelerate data-driven journalism startups, comes from years of frustration and wasted energy.

At every meeting, hackathon or workshop, startups and ideas were born and quickly faded. Traditional media were in crisis because of falling print revenues and an unwillingness to produce interactive and data-driven journalism.

InfoAmazonia Will Crowdsource Environmental News

Environmental journalism site InfoAmazonia, which pioneered using satellite data for reporting, is adding a new source to its coverage: observations from the ground.

The site will gather and share information from people living and working in the Amazon, including “indigenous communities, researchers, NGOs, students and engaged citizens acting on social media,” said data journalist Gustavo Faleiros, who founded the site.

Announcing the 2014 HacksLabs Challenge

The first DataJournalism Accelerator Fund for Latin America launches the HacksLabs Challenge 2014 today with US$100,000 in grants for Latin American projects selected in two rounds. This fund is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the World Bank Institute, the International Center for Journalists ( ICFJ ) and Knight-Mozilla Open News.

African Storytelling Challenge Panelist Shares Tips for "Disruptive" Business Reporting

In his two decades as a journalist in Kenya, Wallace Kantai has reported top business news for all of Kenya’s leading newspapers, and interviewed some of the world's most high-profile business leaders and policymakers.

Aspiring business reporters might imagine he shows up for interviews armed with statistics and questions, but his advice is the opposite: show up without notes.

News Contest Launched to Engage Citizens on Health

Nigerian journalists and media organizations can win cash, mentoring and in-house technical assistance through a new story competition aimed at amplifying citizen voices on vital health issues.

Winners of the Hala Nigeria Story Challenge will receive prizes up to $1,000 and a chance to attend an exclusive EditorsLab with a faculty of international experts.

For Code for Africa, Creating an App is Just the First Step

Code for Africa has helped newsrooms in South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and other countries to liberate data sets and package them as apps that deliver information citizens need in everyday life.

But Justin Arenstein, the initiative's chief strategist and an ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellow, says developing an app should never be the end of the line.