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14 Free Digital Tools Created by ICFJ Knight Fellows That Any Newsroom Can Use

ICFJ’s Knight Fellows are global media innovators who foster news innovation and experimentation to deepen coverage, expand news delivery and better engage citizens.

ICFJ Knight Fellow’s Pakistan Project Nominated for U.S. Digital Journalism Award

The Online News Association announced that The Express Tribune’s “For Peshawar” project is a finalist for an Online Journalism Award. ICFJ Knight Fellow Shaheryar Popalzai helped the Tribune to plan the story content and presentation for the project. He also managed its technical development.

ICFJ Knight roundup: African Fund for Innovative Journalism Accepting Entries

_As part of the Knight International Media Innovators blog, the ICFJ Knight team will round up stories focused on how their fellows are making an impact in the field.

Million-Dollar Fund Launched for Media Innovation in Africa

Media pioneers and organizations in Africa will benefit from a new $1 million fund designed to spur digital innovation that can improve news distribution, revenue flows and audience engagement in news coverage about the health and well-being of Africans.

The new innovateAFRICA Fund offers seed money, technology support and expert mentorship to media organizations and individual innovators.

“African media are experimenting with digital journalism, but the steadily worsening market situation facing mainstream media often has a chilling influence on the rea

Why I'm Using a Battlefield Simulator to Train Journalists

Journalists and citizens alike need to be prepared to face the unexpected, including getting caught in the middle of gunfire, as has happened in recent attacks in Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Baghdad, San Bernardino, Orlando and Dallas.

Tips for Getting Your Newsroom Started With Facebook Live

Up until 2015, a news organization livestream mostly consisted of running a feed of their video content on their websites. Generally speaking, livestreaming equipment was considered costly. But Facebook Live changed that, making it easy for anyone to stream anything they wanted using just their cellphones and a decent internet connection.

How does that help news organizations? For starters, it helps them reach a wider audience with little to no cost.

ICFJ Knight Fellow Challenge: Steal My Tool!

Known as media innovators, ICFJ Knight International Journalism Fellows are creating tools and services that they are eager to share worldwide. They range from Aleph, software that searches large datasets for the names of people and companies, to Salama, an app that assesses a reporter’s risk and recommends ways to stay safe.

ICFJ Brings 360° Video to Pakistani Newsrooms

Pakistan has made the leap into 360° video. As an ICFJ Knight Fellow, I worked in collaboration with The Express Tribune in Karachi to produce Pakistani media’s first experiment in virtual-reality video.

Why did we do this? Because 360° video is a visual storytelling tool with massive potential — both for planned projects and for live and breaking news. It provides viewers with a more in-depth, immersive experience, giving a first-person perspective on your story.

For our first story, we planned a series on heritage sites in Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city.

Six Tips for Working with African Newsrooms on Cross-border Journalism Projects

The dramatic increase in mobile phones and internet connectivity across Africa in recent years has created new opportunities for reporters to collaborate on cross-border projects like the Panama Papers.

First-ever Drone Journalism Bootcamp Trains South African Reporters

When and how can drones be used to improve storytelling? What are the rules that apply in different jurisdictions?

A group of South African journalists and civil rights organizations tackled these and other questions recently at the country’s first drone camp, a three-day, hands-on event in Cape Town organized by ICFJ Knight Fellow Chris Roper.