Blog Post

August
1
2011

Learning to Report in Haiti, a Land of Haves and Have-Nots

When Saturday’s rain started to fall, hundreds of people living in Place Boyer’s tent camp in Petionville had no choice but to hunker down for the night. Haiti Reporters, which was hosting their graduation under a tarp at Brazil’s Cultural Center just across the street, was more fortunate. They were able to move their celebration inside.

July
27
2011

Academy Award-Winning Documentary Producer Helps Haitian Journalists See Their Work In A New Light

Today marks the one-year anniversary of my Fellowship in Haiti. It was a challenge-filled year and the path that has led me to a place where I have a new vista on journalism in Haiti has been strewn with obstacles and even a few dead ends. My overall experience has been one of tremendous personal growth that encompassed the full gamut of emotions. Ultimately, it has been so positive that I’ve extended the Fellowship. I can say with all honesty that that I am looking forward to building on my past successes and achieving new ones with renewed energy.

July
22
2011

India’s "Right to Information" Act Even Extends to Sports Journalists Who Don’t Like Cricket

Sports journalism and the use of India’s Right to Information act could be strange bedfellows. But the recent Commonwealth Games 2010 held in New Delhi reduced the distance. The billion-dollar sports extravaganza was mired in mismanagement, corruption and nepotism. Interestingly, a lot of this was unearthed by Right to Information activists. As a result, the key driver of the event, Suresh Kalmadi, is now in jail on charges of corruption.

July
22
2011

Health Reporting in Nigeria is on the Rise, With a Long Way to Go

It’s been almost three months since I arrived here in Abuja to commence my Knight Fellowship and so much has happened with lots still lined up for the coming months and weeks. My decision to visit several newsrooms and some of my former colleagues who are now senior or managing editors -- seated often behind expensive and expansive mahogany desks -- gave me a good idea about where health journalism is headed in Nigeria.

July
21
2011

Cervical Cancer and Journalism Ethics in Angola

Before the end of the year, Angola will vaccinate 10,000 young teen girls against human papilloma virus (HPV), which causes cervical cancer - the most frequent cancer among Angolan women aged 15-44, and the most lethal, killing more than 1,000 women every year.

July
18
2011

The First-Ever Mental Health Training for Journalists in Ethiopia

Ferew Abebe is an Editor-In-Chief with Sendek, a weekly Amharic newspaper. He’s been covering health for years, but not mental health. He says mental health isn’t a readable topic, since it doesn’t affect the majority of the public. But data from the World Health Organization shows 15-percent of the adults here and 11-percent of children have mental disorders.

July
12
2011

Forced Evictions in Haiti Provide Lessons for Young Journalists

On the grounds of the university established by former President Jean Bertrand Aristide in Tabarre, a community just a few miles north east of the capital, some 400 families are about to be displaced. Aristide is reclaiming his property, including dormitories where some residents are squatting, so that he can reopen his school. To facilitate the move, he’s purchased a plot of land and ACTED, a French non-governmental organization, is constructing transitional shelters.

July
12
2011

Top Journalists Help Identify Challenges with Health Reporting in Developing Countries

When I was invited in June to take part in an international discussion about health issues for senior-level women journalists from developing African countries, I jumped at the chance. I was eager to hear from participants about the challenges they have faced as health editors, reporters and producers for influential media organizations.

June
15
2011

Peru's TV Station Takes its Presidential Election Coverage to New Levels

All the polls leading up to the June 5 runoff election indicated it would be a tight race between Nationalist candidate Ollanta Humala, and Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former president Alberto Fujimori, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights abuses. How best to serve voters and viewers?

June
15
2011

In Tanzania, technology helps shortening the distance between cities and farms

It takes me nine hours of driving only on smooth tarmac to cover the 435 miles from Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam to Arusha in the north, but some of my citizen journalist trainees require two days to cover 100 miles or so to reach the venue for our sessions. So they set off a day earlier from their homes to arrive at the same time that I do.