Blog Post

In Sierra Leone, A New Broadcast Training Space Raises Hope

Training. Capacity-building. Resource development. Things that everyone from President E.B. Koroma and Board Chair Septimus Kaikai to Idrissa, a camera operator, and Emmanuel, a radio presenter, have yearned for at the year-old Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC), the country’s first public broadcaster. The need for training is ever apparent and almost universally recognized here in Sierra Leone.

Mrs Siti Zurina Hassan and the Bank Negara Malaysia - One Proof Point in the Local News Model

At MalaysiaKini’s start-up community news operation, KomunitiKini, we have been working on bringing three things together into a business model for local community news – trained community based citizen journalists (CJ’s), an online platform for communities to create their own local newspaper and finally local advertising.

Medcom -- Telemetro promotes Mi Panama Transparente

Rafael Candanedo, Vice President of the Forum of Journalists for Freedom of Expression and Information, made a presentation on Mi Panama Transparente in an interview in Telemetro Reporta, a very popular morning TV news show in Panama.

During the interview, Aracellys Leoteau, Telemetro Reporta's anchor said that Mi Panama Transparente is a program not only for citizens to send reports about crime and corruption, but also for journalists to play a role of social change.

Leoteau make reference to Panamanian journalists involved in producing stories based on the citizen reports as a way to h

Why Do People Laugh When You Tell Them You Are Studying Journalism Ethics?

-- Why do people laugh when I tell them I'm taking a journalism ethics course?--, I ask Flor when I see her smiling face.

-- Because I think you don't need it--, says Flor Ortega, a Panamanian journalist and ethics university professor.

I feel honored to hear Flor saying I don't need a journalism ethics course. She has been a university professor for a number of years and she has also been a founding member of the National Council of Journalism's Ethics Committee.

However, I think I need to keep studying journalism ethics.

Witchcraft in Malawi Provides Challenges for Journalists

Editors note: Knight Fellow Edem Djokotoe discusses the challenges and various methods of identifying and prosecuting withcraft.

The witchcraft stories that make the news range from spine-chilling and spooky to downright bizarre to fatally tragic. Take the case of 26-year-old Leticia Wyson from Nkondilile Village in central Malawi, for example. On January 15, villagers say she gave birth to two plastic bags containing a millipede, a snail, two mango seeds and nine small stones instead of a baby.

Journalists in the Jungles of Peru Face Disease-carrying Mosquito and Other Challenges

When you mention Peru, most people think of llamas, the imposing Andes, and the mythical Machu Picchu without realizing that over 60 percent of its territory is jungle. Actually, the Amazon River which is surrounded by some of the thickest rain forest in the world, begins high above the Peruvian Andes, and winds its way 4,000 miles into the Atlantic.

This portion of Peru is referred to as La Selva, or the jungle, one of the three distinct regions in the country. The other two are La Costa (the Coast) and La Sierra (the Mountains).

Unemployed Journalists in Haiti Still Finding Stories to Report

Several weeks into an investigative training program for Haitian journalists who lost their jobs after the January 2010 earthquake, a second group of journalists asked to join.

Our first session was held in a tent on the grounds of a state school in Cite Soleil, which for years was referred to as the poorest slum in the Western hemisphere. With a million or so people still living in camps throughout the capital since last year’s earthquake, I’m not sure that label still fits. But there’s no argument that the population is poor.

Getting started in digital journalism? Here's a selected reading list

If you are just getting started in digital journalism, or if you want to broaden your knowledge, the following books and blogs might be helpful. They have helped me.

Political Coverage Will Help Determine Strength of Sierra Leone’s First Public TV Network

At the moment, the Sierra Leone People’s Party is the official opposition in Parliament. The ruling All People’s Congress won the 2007 election by a narrow margin and the next national election is slated for some time in 2012. By all accounts, this next election will be a touchstone for democracy, continued development and peace in Sierra Leone.

The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, as an independent, balanced and fair public service broadcaster, will lead the coverage of the campaign and the elections.

Broadcasting in Sierra Leone is Going Through an Evolution

Let’s look at radio first. According to a “2010 Media Use Survey,” commissioned by Fondation Hirondelle and Cotton Tree News (CTN), the peak times for radio listening are between 6:00 and 7:30 a.m. and between 6:00 and 8:30 p.m.