Blog Post

Citizen Journalism Advances Democratic Citizenship in Rural Indonesia

On 25 November 2011, Adrianus Akid, an indigenous farmer in a rural Indonesian village, sent a text about a damaged bridge to RuaiSMS. RuaiSMS is a mobile news service that turns cell phones into a new communication channel for indigenous people in West Kalimantan, including Sungai Enau, about 12 miles from Pontianak, the capital city of Indonesia’s West Kalimantan Province.

Behind the Numbers: Reporter Puts a “Face” on TB in Ethiopia

Reporting on tuberculosis (TB) has always been of particular interest to Tesfamichael Afework, one of the press officers at the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia. He has done several stories about TB in the past, but not like this one. He is now compiling a story on the results of a nationwide population-based “TB Prevalence Survey” that aims to determine just how widespread the disease has been here in Ethiopia.

SXSW and ICFJ: Eye-Catching Technologies Help Media Engage and Track Information

I attended this year’s South By Southwest Interactive Festival (SXSWi) to interact with industry leaders and explore interactive technologies we could use to help people in developing countries access and share information in new ways.

For the unfamiliar, SXSWi is a five-day extravaganza of panels, parties, free food, meetings planned and moments serendipitous, accelerators, keynotes and one massive tech trade show. Few events bring together such an amazing array of mobile and digital thinkers and innovators.

In the Works: A Mobile App to Help Jordan's Farmers

Tomato farmers all over Jordan face a daily challenge. Should they collect their daily crops and send them to the central vegetable markets without knowing the market availability or price? If there is a big stock of tomatoes in that market, high supply and stable demand reduce the prices. Sometimes there aren't enough buyers and the produce goes to waste. Since there are no tomato processing facilities in Jordan, the result is a direct loss to Jordanian farmers.

Jineth Bedoya Lima: An International Woman of Courage

There are more than 300 journalists working in the converged media newsroom of ICFJ partner El Tiempo, but one stands out – not just as an award-winning journalist but also because of the trauma and travails she has survived along the way.

It was 2000 and Jineth Bedoya Lima, then just 26-years-old, was covering a story about arms smuggling at La Modelo prison in Bogota for El Tiempo newspaper, where she is now deputy justice editor. When Bedoya Lima left the prison, she was seized by a group of paramilitaries who gang raped her.

A Crowdsourced Website and a Shootout Lead to a Crackdown on Crime

As part of a TV investigative reporting workshop, I was working with 12 Panamanian journalists and journalism students eager to learn how they could use Mi Panama Transparente (MPT) to investigate crime and corruption in their areas. I had planned a demonstration I thought would showcase the possibilities. Little did I know it would involve an exchange of gunfire the participants would catch on tape… and lead to a series of high-profile news reports.

MPT is a crowd-sourced website I developed as part of my Knight International Journalism Fellowship.

Radio Journalists in Rural South Africa Find a New Way to Report Health News

It was with a bit of misgiving that I recently headed to Limpopo province to work with reporters at the South African Broadcasting Corporation’s regional station. The national office back in Johannesburg was hankering for stories about ordinary people amid constant unrest. The idea was to get reporters out of the main city, Polokwane, and into the field, fields being quite literal since Limpopo is 90% rural and one of the poorest provinces in South Africa.

Polokwane, however, has been a cauldron of political activity – at times, that can be taken literally.

Journalists Launch First Global Religion Reporting Association

Nestled in the inspirational scenery of the Bellagio Conference Center on Lake Como in Italy, more than 30 journalists from six continents crafted and launched last week the world’s first global association of journalists who cover religion and spirituality.

Mapping Crime and Corruption in Colombia: Knowledge is Power, Thanks to New Digital Technology

Imagine that you have just hailed a taxi off the street in busy, chaotic Bogota. Then, suddenly the taxi stops, someone else jumps in with you, and you find that rather than going to your destination, you have just been abducted.

On your “joy” ride, your abductors will be forcing you to visit a series of ATM machines, where they will oblige you to make withdrawals and empty your account. In Colombia, this is the “paseo millionario” or the millionaire’s ride, similar to the “express kidnappings” and robberies that occur in other Latin American countries, particularly Venezuela.

Story on Alcoholism Leads to Liquor Co. Campaign Against Underage Drinking in Mozambique

Alcoholism and binge drinking are serious problems here in Mozambique. Among the vile, cheap and lethal spirits sold – those with high alcohol content and low price, guaranteed to hit you like a punch from Rumble in the Jungle - the most popular is Tentacão (which means temptation, in Portuguese), less than US$1 for half a pint. Other brands are Lord Gin, Double Punch, Boss, Rhino and Paradise. The cheapest, Lord Gin, with 43% alcohol, costs US$1 for half a liter.

Though underage drinking is technically illegal here, no one seems to check.