Joseph Warungu

Knight International Journalism Fellow Joseph Warungu led the launch of an Africa-wide storytelling contest to encourage better coverage of Africa’s growth, development, health and quality of life. The challenge sought in-depth features; data-driven journalism; and other entries that used innovative tools to engage the public or tell stories. The African Story Challenge included a $1 million program of training and reporting grants that Warungu organized in collaboration with the African Media Initiative, Africa’s only association of media owners and operators. The project included online training, data boot camps and mentoring. More than 50 reporting grants were awarded during the two-year project.

Warungu, has been a BBC journalist for more than two decades, also produced blogs and multimedia stories aimed at elevating the global dialogue about—and the media’s role in explaining—Africa’s development.