Blog Post

$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.

Zambia’s First HIV Activist Loses Battle for Life but Wins Fight for Change

How, and where, do I start explaining what Winstone Zulu meant for Africans living with HIV? How do I tell the story of this Zambian activist who turned a death sentence into a rich life for him, his family and millions of other Africans?

Tribals From Different Regions of India Find They Speak The Same Language – And Now Share Information By Cell Phone

It was a pleasure to hear so many Adivasi languages being spoken in one place: during a recent Democratization of Media workshop held in Koraput and organized jointly by CGnet Swara and Action Aid. Communication makes a community. That’s really what these 37 participants learned in the workshop. They also learned how to communicate more effectively in their own native languages using new tools like mobile phones.

With Elections Looming in Colombia, Journalists and Election Officials Are Gearing Up

A decision to observe a training session conducted by Colombia’s independent Electoral Observer Mission brought me from Bogota to Barranquilla for two days. The MOE, as it is known here, has had an ongoing presence in Colombia’s political life since 2006. One of the things they are doing as they get ready to observe the local elections is to host a crowd-sourced map with national scope where citizens are able to file reports of what they consider to be election irregularities.

Bring It On: Tackling The Challenge of Sustainable Development Journalism in Africa

As Knight International Journalism Fellow Joseph Warungu launches a new network of journalists to report on development in Africa, the graveyard of those who’ve fought the same battle before him offers both warnings and lessons to be learned.