Geojournalism mentorship tackles conservation challenges in Nile Basin
Equipping African journalists with practical skills to publish more environmental data-driven journalism
The Nile Basin covers 10% of Africa’s territory and is the main supplier of fresh water, electricity, and fish for residents of around 13 countries. Despite supporting the livelihoods of millions of inhabitants, it is largely unprotected from climate change, transboundary hydropolitics and numerous other threats. To bring attention to the dangers facing this natural resource, Code for Africa partnered with InfoNile to create a mentorship programme to train journalists in geo journalism, data visualization and data-driven journalism.
The practical mentorship programme, funded by Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, JRS Biodiversity Foundation, National Geographic Society and Internews — Earth Journalism Network, included comprehensive training, assignments and mentorships from experts in the field who shared details on the best tools and techniques to use when reporting on critical conservation issues. The programme provided the opportunity for 47 journalists to gain skills and develop networks with fellow trainees and data experts.
The United Nations’ 2016 Africa Data Revolution Report states that the need for timely and quality data to inform sustainable development agendas exerts pressure on the national statistical systems. The data required for monitoring progress toward the global and continental development agendas is unprecedented both in scope and granularity.
Data-driven journalism in Africa is a developing field due to the nature of the data ecosystems in Africa — which aren’t as established as elsewhere. With this in mind, the programme aimed to train a collection of African communicators to tell important stories which affect the communities they live in as well as to create positive social, economic and environmental transformation.
“We were getting a lot of requests from journalists who wanted to gain skills in data journalism. Data is so important and the ability to be able to find stories and communicate data is crucial. This helps to fact check, keep governments accountable as well as to find stories and trends that nobody else is reporting on,” said Annika McGinnis, co-founder of InfoNile.
Practical training formed a big part of the programme, allowing the journalists to try their hand at implementing their newly attained skills. As a result, 11 data-based articles focused on the environment and biodiversity have been published in broadcast, print, television and online platforms, with more still in the production process.
“We saw a lack of skills among the journalists we work with in the Nile Basin; University journalism curriculums are pretty theoretical, although they are getting better. There is an overall need for mentorship and skill sharing between those who have the skills and those who do not. We knew that mentorship would demystify complex topics,” said McGinnis.
“InfoNile and Code for Africa answered our Coronavirus News Collaboration Challenge call with a very unique and ambitious proposal for a networked data journalism project that is not just producing vital pandemic-related stories for print, digital, radio, and TV, but also mentoring and building capacity to cover future crises in the Nile region,” said Steve Sapienza, Senior Strategist at Pulitzer Center.
An InfoNile survey showed that 89% of the participants were making progress on their data journalism skills throughout the programme and that there was a good social atmosphere among their fellows which created a good educational environment.
At the end of the programme, the feedback received from participants was positive:
“I am very grateful to have undertaken the InfoNile and Code for Africa training during this global pandemic. The opportunity has really changed my journalistic skills, I now write my stories focusing on the impact they will bring and use data and visualisation to make them more resourceful to my audience. So far the certificate I received in June helped me to be competitive in an interview I was called to. I am looking forward to learning more from the relationships I built with various trainers and trainees,” said Lenah Bosibori, journalist at Talk Africa.
“I think the mentorship programme was great, we learnt a lot that we didn’t know. For me, data extraction sessions and geo journalism were really great. They were out of the ordinary. Regarding story support, I think at the end of it all, the presentation of the data was great. I didn’t have a problem with my mentor and I liked how you conceptualised my idea,” said Sharon Atieno, journalist at Science Africa.
With 14 pieces of work already published, and more to come, InfoNile plans to continue their training work to accelerate the uptake of geo journalism in Africa. “It has been great seeing people learning, getting great feedback from journalists. This is not the end — we have several other training programmes planned ahead. InfoNile is currently working on a platform for journalists and water scientists to work together and collaborate on projects,” said Fredrick Mugira, Managing Director of Water Journalists Africa, and co-founder of InfoNile.
So far these are the published pieces in broadcast, print, television and online platforms:
- What is driving Jipe Tilapia fish in Lake Jipe into near extinction? Read more
- Saving the population of the Rothschild’s giraffe in Kenya. Read more
- Simple solutions for stubborn problems: Communities close to Kenya’s Tsavo National Park plant trees to save wildlife. Read more
- Kenyan Conservancies Unable To Pay Leased Land Amid Covid-19 Linked Drop In Tourism Revenue. Read more
- Waterborne diseases and Covid-19 crisis in Budalangi Busia Kenya. Listen here
- Turning the Budalangi tide, courtesy of InfoNile Foundation. Watch here
- The right path. Read more
- Floods on record-high Lake Victoria expose need for water cooperation. Read more
- Egyptian villagers purify their drinking water. Read more
- A refugees’ idea to restore a degraded Ugandan lake pays off. Read more
- Poachers Den turns wildlife haven, the story of Ajai. Read more
- Obuheereza bwa ARVs na Family Planning kuhika omubyaro omubwire bwa COVID19. Watch here
- Clean Water, Basic Essentials Shortage Hits Elgon Landslides Survivors Amidst Coronavirus Outbreak. Read more
- Karangura: Caught up between the dual danger of Covid-19 pandemic and water crisis. Read more
Code for Africa (CfA) is the continent’s largest network of civic technology and data journalism labs, with teams in 12 countries. CfA builds digital democracy solutions that give citizens unfettered access to actionable information that empowers them to make informed decisions, and that strengthens civic engagement for improved public governance and accountability. This includes building infrastructure like the continent’s largest open data portals at openAFRICA and sourceAFRICA, as well as incubating initiatives as diverse as the africanDRONE network, the PesaCheck fact-checking initiative and the sensors.AFRICA air quality sensor network. CfA also manages that African Network of Centres for Investigative Reporting (ANCIR), which gives the continent’s best muckraking newsrooms the best possible forensic forensic data tools, digital security and whistleblower encryption to help improve their ability to tackle crooked politicians, organised crime and predatory big business. CfA also runs one of Africa’s largest skills development initiatives for digital journalists, and seed funds cross-border collaboration.
InfoNile is a cross-border group of geo-journalists with a mission to uncover critical stories on water issues in the Nile River Basin through data-based multimedia storytelling. They seek to bridge the gap between scientists and researchers, journalists, and the public by producing cross-border data journalism and interactive maps in order to increase mutual awareness of water issues around this ancient and significant river. InfoNile provides story grants and mentorship to journalists across the Nile Basin to help them conduct in-depth stories on issues of water, environment, biodiversity and climate change. They highlight stories of solutions for issues such as climate change and wildlife trafficking in local communities. InfoNile is Uganda based, with journalists working across 11 African countries.
The Pulitzer Center raises awareness of underreported global issues through direct support for quality journalism across all media platforms and a unique programme of education and public outreach.
The JRS Biodiversity Foundation is an independent grantmaking foundation based in Seattle, Washington with assets of $47million that awards grants to increase the access to and use of biodiversity information in sub-Saharan Africa.
The National Geographic Society uses the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonder of our world.
Internews empowers people worldwide with the trustworthy, high-quality news and information they need to make informed decisions, participate in their communities, and hold power to account. Earth Journalism Network (EJN) was developed in 2004 by Internews to enable journalists from developing countries to cover the environment more effectively. In their mission to improve the quantity and quality of environmental reporting, EJN trains journalists to cover a wide variety of issues, develops innovative online environmental news sites and produces content for local media — including ground-breaking investigative reports.
