News

Christmas in Colombia: Newsroom Joins Religion and Rumba Mix

Here, December comes with an undercurrent that feels uniquely Colombian. The Christmas celebrations show a deep commitment to religion – as throughout the Western world. But they show the same deep commitment to rumba – that is, the Colombian expression for partying and having a good time.

Trip to Rural Mozambique Shows How Badly Medicine – and Media – Are Needed

The village health post was empty of patients when we arrived at one of the stops on our trip – around 4 p.m., after hours. So Zao Ali Issufo, a lanky, enterprising reporter from community radio in Mueda, Mozambique, set out to interview villagers.

$1 Million Fund Seeds New Media Innovations in Africa

I’ve crisscrossed the African continent over the past five months, clocking more than 27,000 miles as I’ve helped newsrooms come to grips with the new digital era. And wherever I go, I meet two to three journalists per day who think they have a solution to the malaise that paralyzes much of the continent’s traditional media.

From Mozambique: The Challenges, Taboos and How-to's of Health Reporting

Health reporting in Mozambique means facing some unusual taboos. Knight International Health Fellow Mercedes Sayagues recently spoke with IJNet about some of the challenges and rewards.

In Ethiopia, Reproductive Health Journalism Requires Careful Presentation

Tigist Muleta has the kind of story I want all my journalism trainees exposed to. She could have been another statistic – a wife at 14 who finds that repeated pregnancies threaten the comfortable life she envisioned. Instead, a new awareness of health and reproductive choices helped turn her life around.

Although Tigist was quickly the mother of three, her relatives in Ethiopia’s remote district of Girar-Jarsso still advised her and her husband to have more children – considered wealth there. Then a community health worker taught the young couple about family planning methods.

New Mobile SMS Service Helps Indonesian Villagers Hold Company Accountable

The first message came by text on October 17 from a cell phone in rural Indonesia, and it quickly got results – a surprising and encouraging turn of events for the new citizen journalist who sent it.

“One hundred residents of Sei Enau village … are defending their lands,” it read in the native Indonesian language. It was the very first SMS message sent through a new communications system developed by Knight International Journalism Fellow Harry Surjadi, in partnership with Ruai TV and Internews.

South Africa's HIV News Squeezed in Among Politics and Crime

The last of the jacaranda’s hardiest blossoms are being blasted from the trees by fierce wind and rain. Spring has turned to stormy summer in South Africa, and almost everyone in Johannesburg is about to decamp for the beach or the village for the holidays.

The media have been obsessed with the antics of the leaders of the ANC Youth League, the young lords of the ruling party who’re led by Julius Malema, now facing a five-year suspension from the ANC for defying party elders, disrupting meetings, and criticizing President Zuma.

Brazil’s Largest Daily Expands Multimedia Blog for Underserved Communities

As a Knight International Journalism Fellow in Brazil, Bruno Garcez launched the Mural multimedia blog for citizens in Sao Paulo’s poor neighborhoods. Now hosted and supported by the country’s largest daily newspaper, the blog is thriving… and the number of citizen-journalist bloggers is growing.

Wall Street Journal Features Mobile News Service For India's Poor

"India Real Time" blog in the Wall Street Journal writes about the cellular news service created by Knight International Journalism Fellow Shubhranshu Choudhary for citizens in remote provinces. Trained citizen journalists, for the first time, are providing news in the local language—and often beating mainstream media to the story.

Colombia Elections Are "Mostly Clean," Despite Violence

The end of October and the beginning of November were monumental times in Colombia. New mayors and governors were elected in a mostly fair and mostly clean vote on Oct. 30. A former guerrilla was elected mayor of Bogota. In pockets around the country, some violent protests erupted, sparked by allegations of fraud and vote tampering. And if that wasn’t enough for a news-filled week, late on Nov. 4, the Colombian military announced it had killed Alfonso Cano, top commander of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces or FARC.