News

São Paulo’s Mural Blog Helps Citizens Shed Light on Neglected Communities

For more than three years, the blog Mural has practiced collaborative journalism, run away from stereotypes and sought quality in local coverage.

Community journalism, citizen journalism, hyperlocal journalism, nonprofit journalism. I do not accept any of these labels. In my assessment, what the correspondents for the blog Mural have done for more than three years is good-quality journalism. Good journalism. Period.

How Argentina's La Nación Data Journalism Team is Verifying Senate Spending Data With Help From the Public

The data sets emerging from our current age of big data aren't always usable by the masses--or even accurate. One Argentine newspaper is working to change that by empowering the public to verify and understand just what the country's elected leaders are spending public money on, from airline tickets to per diems.

La Nación’s VozData initiative, which launched in late March, allows users to review and rate more than 6,500 Argentine Senate spending records from 2010 to 2012. All were originally published on the official Senate website.

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.

Cutting-Edge Journalism Curricula Start with Tech-Savvy Teachers

The basic tenets of journalism aren’t changing--but the tools available to reporters certainly are.

Technology is advancing rapidly, especially in the field of journalism. So how are students supposed to keep up with the latest trends when their professors have not set foot in a newsroom in years?