News

The latest news from the International Center for Journalists.

July
15
2013

Three Months in Washington: a Dream Internship for Tsinghua Student

Second-year Tsinghua University journalism student Wei Wei spent three months working in Washington this spring as part of the Prudential Foundation's Global Citizens Program, offered through the Washington Center.

July
12
2013

Mozambique Newspaper Monitors Polling Places With New Citizen Reporting Tool

The editorial team at Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is gearing up to report on the country's municipal elections in November and national elections next year. With 2,500 polling stations across the country to monitor, it’s a tough job for any newsroom, and especially for @Verdade’s, which has just an 11-person editorial staff.

That's where an innovative citizen reporter network comes into play.

For the first time ever, citizens are helping @Verdade to report on the election process.

July
12
2013

Why Indonesia’s Farmers Are Using Cell Phones to Report the News

When a company in Indonesia reduced a passable village road to a pool of mud, local farmers reported the damage by text message to a local TV station, and the company was forced to fix the road.

Until recently, incidents like this usually went unreported by the media. The country's farmers were frequently forced off their property due to violations by hundreds of plantation companies, environmental journalist and media trainer Harry Surjadi told The Jakarta Post.

July
10
2013

A Tribute to Sputnik Kilambi

Sputnik Kilambi, a tireless and passionate journalist and former Knight International Journalism Fellow, died on July 6 after a battle with liver cancer. She was 55.

A veteran broadcaster, Sputnik had worked in Africa, Asia and Europe covering wars and humanitarian crises. She also trained teams of reporters dedicated to journalistic excellence and promoting peace in countries wracked by violence and poverty.

July
8
2013

China Program Alum Exposes "Slum Girls'" Struggles in Kenya

Chen Yingying (Lulu), a correspondent for Xinhua News Agency in Nairobi, Kenya, recently did a report on teenage girls that was picked up and republished by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lulu is a 2011 graduate of the Global Business Journalism master's program, a project of the International Center for Journalists and Tsinghua University, where it is based.

July
8
2013

How Newsrooms Can Use Data to Meet Community Needs

To cultivate a loyal audience in today's media environment, newspapers must do more than simply churn out stories.

Editors and their newsrooms should create usable products, like data-driven news and information tools, to serve their readers, said Knight International Journalism Fellow Justin Arenstein at the World Editors Forum in Bangkok during his master's class for editors.

July
1
2013

Winners of Vaccine Reporting Contest Focus on Barriers and Successes in Eradicating Polio

Journalists from Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates are winners of the first journalism competition on coverage of vaccines and immunizations. In well-documented multimedia and broadcast reports, most spotlighted the challenges—and victories—in eliminating polio.

“The winners produced coverage that serves as lessons to all in how to conquer devastating yet preventable diseases such as polio,” said ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan.

June
26
2013

United Nations Publication Features Work of South Asia Training Participants

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shared the work of two ICFJ program participants in a publication commemorating The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26.

M M Badsha's piece "Gaza Phencidyl Yaba Crossing Border in the Hole of Bamboo, Inside the Pillow," detailed the practices of drug traffickers in his home country of Bangladesh while Chencho Dema's piece, "Substance Abuse Among Women a Growing Problem" offered a close look at drug abuse amon

June
25
2013

ICFJ Participant Wins Prestigious Awards for Report on Human Trafficking

Wellesley, MA is a town better known for its college culture than its ties to the sex trade. But International Reporting Fellow Phillip Martin's award-winning stories are exposing it--and other hidden trafficking hot spots along the eastern seaboard.

June
11
2013

How Costa Rica’s La Nación is Telling Stories Visually

When U.S. President Barack Obama visited San José, Costa Rica this spring, he brought along the biggest security operation in the country’s history.

Costa Rica’s La Nación newspaper knew its audience would be keenly interested in the logistics of a visit that would affect traffic throughout the city that day.