News

Calling All Journalism Professors!

The International Center for Journalists is on to something big with its Back in the Newsroom Fellowship. As one of five professors from historically black colleges selected to participate in the program, the benefit of the exposure just in the first few weeks alone has been immeasurable.

The fellowship draws educators out from behind the walls of their institutions of higher learning and pushes them into the open universe of digital content generation.

ICFJ Knight Fellow's Regional Hackathon Follows Funds

Fourteen distinct chapters of Hacks/Hackers across Latin America and Miami gathered participants on June 7 to work on projects that attempt to answer one basic question: Where does my money go?

The hackathon brought journalists and coders together to follow where and how Latin American governments and corporations direct their funds.

Expert Tips for Making Better Infographics

While infographics are a great way to help readers understand complex topics, journalists should avoid the temptation to make information appear to be simpler than it is.

"Stories are always more complicated than they seem at first," said data visualization expert Alberto Cairo.

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.