Gates Foundation grant for developing data journalism in Africa
18 August 2015
The International Center for Journalists programme is a three-year initiative to
promote data journalism and empirical research for media in Africa. The project will
be managed by Code For Africa, Africa's largest civic technology initiative, whose
highly successful CitizenLabs project has helped encourage digital experimentation
and aid digital transformation in traditional media and social justice organisations.
With the
recognition and contribution from the Gates Foundation, this innovative trend in
journalism is set to put Africa at the forefront of cutting edge electronic journalism.
Code For Africa strategist, Justin Arenstein, says the uptrend of information-
and research-based journalism is making journalism relevant to ordinary people
again, adding that "media organisations have to discover what their audiences
really care about (and) develop journalism that gives the audience actionable
information."
The
project will also advance the use of pioneering sensor journalism, data
sourced from environmental sensors - for example, measuring air, water and noise
pollution levels in major African cities. "These sensors generate real-time readings,
which data journalists analyse for trends and anomalies, (triggering)
reportage…(and the) stories generated (will assist in) identifying polluters and
helping citizens understand which parts of their cities are healthier and safer to live
in," Arenstein explains.
Thanks to the Gates Foundation grant, the project has recruited some of Africa’s
most innovative digital news content creators as ICFJ Knight Fellows, including
former South African Mail & Guardian editor, Chris Roper, and data journalism
pioneer, Raymond Joseph, who will head the cadet journalism school in Cape Town.
The cadet course will include students spending two to three weeks in a
practical learning environment working with data 'wranglers' in order
to learn how
to use data as a visualisation tool and a way to make complicated data-based
stories more comprehensible and more interesting.
After training, students can be integrated into media houses to further use their
background in data gathering and analysis in the traditional journalism environment.
Code For Africa will be on hand to guide and mentor them during this process.
"After six months we hope the journalists will have the skills to work in newsrooms
or start successful freelance careers," Joseph said.
The project is also set to educate these traditional media houses and its senior
management on how data journalism can be bring an added value to their roles as
communicators.
Arenstein said the programme will also be supported by in-country teams of
civic technologists, who help run the Code For South Africa and Code For Kenya
CitizenLabs, with all resources, including software and data, plus training resources,
will be made
available for free re-use elsewhere on the continent.
Code For Africa currently has over 90 data journalism projects, ranging from
popular mobile-based citizen reporting apps and data investigations, to water
sensors that help rural villagers avoid cholera. Its African News Innovation
Challenge and Hacks/Hackers Africa events have built up a continental network of
over 30,000 contributors, and bring together journalists and technologists to
collaborate on various media projects.
Code For Africa’s engagement strategist, Stephen Abbott Pugh, has worked on
some of the biggest data-driven stories over the last five years, including the
WikiLeaks cables, as well as data-driven citizen engagement programmes for the
British Parliament. Pugh intends to use his insights on this new ground-breaking
avenue
of journalism to reach as many people as possible and give audiences the tools to
help shape the news and public discourse.
"The reality is that the
majority of people across Africa are still offline," he
says, "but many have access to mobile phones. (Code For Africa) will be looking at
how to use SMS and radio, in combination with open data and other civic
technologies, to transmit personalised and actionable information to people when
they need it most…we (want to) give people the tools to make their own voices
heard."
Source: The Media Online
