Blog Post

Remote Mozambique Relies on Radio for Health News

Mueda is where Mozambique’s uprising against colonial rule started, back in 1960. A memorial and a museum celebrate the event – but that pretty much exhausts the benefits Mueda has derived from its heroic past. Remote and poor, the district got electricity only last year.

Christmas Day Bombings in Nigeria: How Violence Hampers Efforts to Expand Health Coverage

It’s almost nine months into my fellowship in Nigeria, yet it seems like there is still so much to be done. Achieving more in the remaining few months will be less of a challenge if the country can find a way to better manage the snowballing religious and political crises. The Islamist terror group Boko Haram claims credit for much of the violence – and has not let up.

Christmas in Colombia: Newsroom Joins Religion and Rumba Mix

Here, December comes with an undercurrent that feels uniquely Colombian. The Christmas celebrations show a deep commitment to religion – as throughout the Western world. But they show the same deep commitment to rumba – that is, the Colombian expression for partying and having a good time.

Trip to Rural Mozambique Shows How Badly Medicine – and Media – Are Needed

The village health post was empty of patients when we arrived at one of the stops on our trip – around 4 p.m., after hours. So Zao Ali Issufo, a lanky, enterprising reporter from community radio in Mueda, Mozambique, set out to interview villagers.

$1 Million Fund Seeds New Media Innovations in Africa

I’ve crisscrossed the African continent over the past five months, clocking more than 27,000 miles as I’ve helped newsrooms come to grips with the new digital era. And wherever I go, I meet two to three journalists per day who think they have a solution to the malaise that paralyzes much of the continent’s traditional media.

In Ethiopia, Reproductive Health Journalism Requires Careful Presentation

Tigist Muleta has the kind of story I want all my journalism trainees exposed to. She could have been another statistic – a wife at 14 who finds that repeated pregnancies threaten the comfortable life she envisioned. Instead, a new awareness of health and reproductive choices helped turn her life around.

Although Tigist was quickly the mother of three, her relatives in Ethiopia’s remote district of Girar-Jarsso still advised her and her husband to have more children – considered wealth there. Then a community health worker taught the young couple about family planning methods.

South Africa's HIV News Squeezed in Among Politics and Crime

The last of the jacaranda’s hardiest blossoms are being blasted from the trees by fierce wind and rain. Spring has turned to stormy summer in South Africa, and almost everyone in Johannesburg is about to decamp for the beach or the village for the holidays.

The media have been obsessed with the antics of the leaders of the ANC Youth League, the young lords of the ruling party who’re led by Julius Malema, now facing a five-year suspension from the ANC for defying party elders, disrupting meetings, and criticizing President Zuma.

Colombia Elections Are "Mostly Clean," Despite Violence

The end of October and the beginning of November were monumental times in Colombia. New mayors and governors were elected in a mostly fair and mostly clean vote on Oct. 30. A former guerrilla was elected mayor of Bogota. In pockets around the country, some violent protests erupted, sparked by allegations of fraud and vote tampering. And if that wasn’t enough for a news-filled week, late on Nov. 4, the Colombian military announced it had killed Alfonso Cano, top commander of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces or FARC.

Villagers Become Citizen Journalists in Rural Indonesia

After a two-day workshop I held recently on the basics of citizen journalism, one participant summed up the importance of his new task: "The training taught me how to become a critical person,” said 25-year-old Juliatus, a resident of Sei Enau village.

Mozambique Reporters Find Tragedy, Triumph in Battle For Better Women’s Health Care

Obstetric fistula is a major health problem, and a difficult topic to write about. This month brought both joy and tremendous sorrow for those of us hoping to impact health coverage and improve lives here in Mozambique.