News

Learning Data Visualization Skills Helps Tell Compelling Stories in Africa

For two days, the trainers became trainees, and it was fun. We stepped into the world of data visualization using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). These population-based surveys provide reliable information on HIV, malaria, gender, family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition in more than 90 countries.

Unsafe Abortion Makes News, as Mozambique Prepares for a Change in Law

Abortions are technically illegal in Mozambique. Even though the laws are no longer enforced, medical standards have yet to catch up, especially in rural areas where patients find less sterile, riskier procedures. Now with a new effort to revamp and discard the old national laws, all that is about to change.

Digital Map to Track Corruption Launches in Colombia

A digital mapping tool to track corruption in Colombia on a national scale launched July 24, a result of our partnership with the Consejo de Redacción, a country-wide organization of investigative journalists.

Hack/Hackers Sao Paulo: On the Quest for Journalism Innovation

On Monday, July 16, I launched Brazil’s first Hacks/Hackers chapter in Sao Paulo. The initiative has the support of ABRAJI (the Brazilian Investigative Journalism Association), the local offices of the Open Knowledge Foundation and W3C (the World Wide Web Consortium).

Knight Fellows in Africa Develop Tools To Improve Health Data Reporting

Knight International Journalism Fellows collaborated with Measure DHS (Demographic Health Surveys) in Entebbe, Uganda, to develop tools that can be used to train other journalists to accurately report on health issues using data. The complexity of understanding health data, coupled with the thoughtful and sensitive coverage necessary when reporting HIV prevalence, makes training health journalists critical to improving public health in Africa.

Knowledge for Health wrote about the event on their blog.

A Journey to the Source: Reporters in South Africa Learn How and Where to Find People Behind the Stories

Stretching across a broad expanse of wilderness along South Africa’s Eastern Cape, the Transkei is the region set aside for the Xhosa people by the old apartheid regime, ostensibly as an experiment in black self-governance. It is also the birthplace of some of South Africa’s greatest freedom fighters, among them Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Thabo Mbeki.

African Media Trainers Focus on Health Data

Entebbe, Uganda – Leading journalists from across Africa have teamed up with international demography experts to train journalists how to report on important demographic and health data.

Knight Fellow Advances Media Sustainability in Liberia

Liberia is taking steps towards greater press freedom through media sustainability, according to Knight International Journalism Fellow Luisa Handem Piette. Recent improvements in legislation encourage free reporting, but bolstering media sustainability remains pivotal. Piette, with support from UNESCO and ICFJ, brings together media owners and journalists in monthly exchanges to formulate plans for increased private investment in Liberian media, with promising results.

After Rio+20, the Role of Journalists is Even More Important

At the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, I came prepared to learn about new challenges journalists around the world will face as they try to find accurate information about environmental and development issues. As a Knight International Journalism Fellow, I also came armed with some practical approaches for addressing these new challenges – at least here in the Amazon region where my work is based.

National Geographic Highlights New Digital Map Designed to Track Problems and Progress in the Amazon

With its focus on global environmental issues, NationalGeographic.com is highlighting a digital map launched by Knight International Journalism Fellow Gustavo Faleiros, including the use of layered filters that can help data journalists track the effects of forest fires, deforestation and extractive industries like mining.