News

Investigative Reporters in Africa Triumph Despite Budget Cuts and Threats

A boom in investigative journalism in South Africa seems to be winding down as media houses slash budgets to balance their books to continue to pay dividends to shareholders.

In recent years, all the country's big media houses set up investigation units staffed by senior journalists who had the resources and time to mount major investigations.

The Rules and Pitfalls of Using Twitter as a Reporting Tool

ICFJ Knight Fellows Chris Roper and Raymond Joseph discussed the six golden rules for journalists on Twitter, the pitfalls of the platform and more during a webinar hosted by ICFJ Anywhere and Dow Jones. Below are our main takeaways, starting with the six golden rules for journalists on Twitter.

How to Measure Impact Effectively: Best Practices for Media Organizations

How do you measure media impact? Is your journalism successful?

How 'Living on the Edge' Illustrates Data Journalism Tools' Potential

Sometimes the best story ideas come from a random discussion that sparks a light bulb moment.

And so it was with Living on the Edge, a data-driven multimedia story by Kim Harrisberg, which recently won the national online category of the Vodacom Journalist of the Year awards, South Africa's most prestigious journalism awards.

"This entry shows brilliant use of the online medium to unpack what could have been a standard human-interest story," said one of the online

Weak Health Systems, Poor Communications Were Lethal Combo During Ebola Crisis

A deadly mix of poor health services and communication failures fueled the Ebola epidemic that claimed more than 11,200 lives in West Africa, according to an ICFJ panel of journalists and health researchers who witnessed the disease’s devastation first-hand. But the panel of experts noted that there are promising signs that the global community could be better prepared to handle the next outbreak.

Slideshow: 2015 Global Health Reporting Awards Dinner

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) and Johnson and Johnson honored six journalists from China, Russia, India, Senegal, Brazil and Cameroon at the 2015 Global Health Reporting Awards Dinner in New York City. The 2014 winners also attended the event.

ICFJ President Joyce Barnathan moderated a discussion titled, "Fighting

ICFJ Knight Roundup: Code for South Africa Launches Data Journalism School

A new data journalism training program in Africa, tracking government spending in Chile and more from the Knight Fellows in this week’s roundup.

How News Organizations Can Use Social Media to Expand Their Reach

To make sure that stories get the visibility they deserve, they have to reach readers who spend much of their time on social media these days.

Five Data Journalists Uncover Corruption in Mexican Congress' Expense Reports

The truth hurts, especially when the truth is contained in receipts from bars, hotels, spas and luxury vehicle dealers.

A group of five young Mexican journalists has spent the past year or so sifting through thousands of expense reports of Mexico's senators and deputies (congress) to see how they are using taxpayers' money.

Among their scoops:

• Members of the Senate bought 10 Harley-Davidson motorcycles at a cost of 2.12 million Mexican pesos, or about US$130,000, in order to serve the

Code for Africa's Data Bootcamps Teach Journalists Digital Literacy Skills

Open data is useless if nobody knows what to do with it, which is why Code for Africa's data bootcamps are so important.

Developed in 2012 by ICFJ Knight Fellow Justin Arenstein and the World Bank Institute, these data bootcamps have been held all over the world — including 10 African countries, Pak