ICFJ Knight Fellowships

A Young Journalist Sees NYPD Blue and Detects a Story

Six officers from New York City were standing around the tent camp in Haiti. Several questions later, the reporter I was working with had his first scoop.I generally reserve Tuesday mornings to work with Louis-Jean Olivier, a young journalist with the Haiti Press Network. Although Olivier had been studying journalism at the State University, he didn’t start working as a reporter until after the January earthquake, when on a fluke he ended up filing a story for HPN. He so impressed HPN’s owner that he was hired on the spot and has been working for the agency ever since.

“Elvis is in the building…” Welcome Gbanabom!

Gbanabom (Elvis) Hallowell was officially welcomed to the fold at SLBC as the new, permanent, Board-approved, presidentially-appointed Director General on October 1, 2010. After months of application forms, interviews, “politicking”, review committees and appointment processes, Gbanabom’s presence is a very welcome sign that things are moving forward in the transition from state-owned SLBS to the public broadcaster SLBC. Signs of progress can be few and far between but this giant step is hugely significant.

Community News Sites and Community Engagement

MalaysiaKini is currently working on a community news site, KomunitiKini, to provide news and information on communities across Malaysia. The local news situation in Malaysia is a microcosm of the national news situation, but only with fewer dedicated traditional news outlets. All of the local mainstream media is associated with a constituent party of the ruling coalition. Local or regional newspapers are relatively limited and coverage tends to focus on crime with limited reporting on community issues. Independent voices or community activism is restricted to online.

Red de sitios hiperlocales Patch capacitará a universitarios

La sociedad es significativa por dos razones: representa un gran esfuerzo de expansión por parte de la empresa matriz de Patch, el gigante de comunicaciones AOL, y estas universdidades son entre los más prestigiosos de EEUU.

La red de medios hiperlocales Patch ha hecho sociedades con 13 escuelas de periodismo en EEUU para capacitar a periodistas para sus sitios.

Según paidcontent.com, Patch se intenta expandir a 500 comunidades desde sus 100 actuales en seis meses para hacerse la red de sitios hiperlocales más grande del país.