Blog Post

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Solidarity and Professionalism: Two Crucial Components for Change in the Press, and Change in Haiti

A former Carnival singer and media hound, Martelly embraces the spotlight. Coverage of any kind, he says, is okay, as long as it’s balanced and accurate. On Latin America Freedom of the Press Day, June 7th, however, he cautioned journalists to be more responsible. And to be more united, working together for a common cause - the betterment of Haiti.

20-Plus Reasons Why Investing in Media Creates Lasting Change

Over time, we’ve noticed a growing myth about media grant making – that the outcomes aren’t quantifiable, that it doesn’t produce a tangible, measurable impact.

In a new report, the International Center for Journalists offers 20 plus reasons to the contrary. That’s how many changes to government policies were brought to bear by the work of fellows.

In Ethiopia, a New Health Program Brings Hope to a Farmer with TB

It has been almost two months now since I was assigned to the Federal Ministry of Health in Ethiopia as a Knight International Health Journalism Fellow to help improve the quality and quantity of health radio and television shows produced by the ministry. The shows are transmitted on the national broadcaster, Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency.

A Surprise on International Freedom of the Press Day Affirms the Importance of Solid Training

To say that Haiti is full of surprises is kind of like saying that summers here are hot. Surprises are as numerous as Haiti’s contradictions: two hundred dollar a night hotels across from tent camps, five-star restaurants facing water distribution points.

Many of the surprises provoke mixed emotions, like when I turn the corner only to find myself in a traffic jam because a pickup truck is finally removing rubble.