ICFJ Anywhere: The Use of Digital Tools in Public Service Reporting

The International Center for Journalists offered an online course on the use of digital tools in public service reporting, which was held from March 15 to April 25.

The online course was the first part of a program that brought together professional and citizen journalists with civil society actors from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen. The six-week online course guided 60 participants from these countries to work on ideas for multimedia public service journalism projects.

Throughout the online course, the selected participants learned:

• How to identify and adapt emerging technologies
• Twitter basics
• Understanding and using social media
• Reporting through crowdsourcing
• Understanding and using mobile, SMS and location-aware services
• Visual storytelling techniques
• Mapping and mashups for beginners
• Writing for the real-time Web
• Online video production

The best 28 participants in the online course were invited for a digital media “boot camp,” where they had access to experts in technology, multimedia and online marketing who helped them create multimedia projects in public service journalism to illustrate the issues that affect ordinary people in their everyday lives.

The participants returned home to work on their projects and then assembled again after three months for a second boot camp. There, the program’s trainers awarded seed funding to the five projects with the best potential for expansion and sustainability.

The most outstanding participants were invited to the United States for two-week activities which included site visits and meetings reflecting their interests with representatives of civil society and non-profit organizations as well as journalistic organizations and government agencies. Capping the experience was the opportunity for the participants to spend several days working with and observing U.S. counterparts in an American newsroom.

This program was made possible by the support of the American people through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of ICFJ and did not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.