Blog Post

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.

Panamanian Newspapers Are Getting Wired

The Panamanian newspapers have taken serious steps to enhance their online presence opening YouTube channels, blogs, Twitter and Facebook accounts and creating crowdsourcing tools to get photos, videos and information produced by their readers.

Miraculous Cures or Deceitful Ads?

Reporter Helder Macuacua and I enter the Maxaquene sports pavilion, packed with 5,000 believers, and we freeze. As if cued to our arrival, prophet Cremildo thunders from the stage: “Those journalists who criticize us, they are driven by envy, by evil, by the devil. They shall feel our wrath!”

Haitian Journalists Investigate $2-million Project Shut Down

As if the journalists I'm working with haven't had enough distractions, a new curve ball was thrown last week- the unexpected arrival of former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, who descended from an Air France flight after a near 25-year absence.

"Baby Doc's" appearance accelerated a tailspin that started with last year's earthquake. The disaster, which killed as many as 300,000, was then exacerbated by a hurricane, a cholera epidemic that has killed close to 4,000 people and a November 28 electoral dispute that is so mired in politicking that even the U.S.

Presidential Celebration in Malawi Does Little to Help Struggling Newspaper

Red carpet…a sea of tuxedos and dazzling, figure-hugging evening gowns…a phalanx of paparazzi looking for someone important or something offbeat to shoot.

But this black-tie event took place, not in Los Angeles but in a giant marquee on the lawns of Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika’s State House in Lilongwe, the capital.

The event in question was an awards dinner hosted by the state-owned and government-controlled Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), dubbed “Our People, Our Pride.” It is an annual ceremony to honor Malawians whose deeds have touched the lives of many—ordinary people