First POST: Big Bad Data
BY Micah L. Sifry | Tuesday, November 4 2014
Why big data is bad for political reporting and campaigns; tracking Facebook's voter megaphone; a progress report on the Loomio group decision-making platform; and much, much more. Read More
Ushahidi Provides Journalists With Instant Real-Time Crisis Data
BY Onnik James Krikorian | Wednesday, August 20 2014
Ushahidi's CrisisNET platform provides reporters with accurate and timely data culled from social media (credit: Ushahidi)
Times have changed since Ushahidi first launched its crisis mapping platform in the violent aftermath of the 2007 elections in Kenya. With the use of social media now widespread, so too has the way in which many media, international organizations, and local NGOs now work. Ushahidi has had to go social. Read More
For Measuring Impact of Journalism and Advocacy, Data is Not Just Data
BY Miranda Neubauer | Tuesday, June 3 2014
Going beyond simply counting clicks to using data to inform journalistic or policy goals was a recurring theme among the panelists participating in the first research conference sponsored by the Journalism School's Tow Center for Digital Journalism, as Miranda Neubauer reports. Read More
First POST: Commercially Reasonable Highway Robbery
BY Micah L. Sifry | Friday, April 25 2014
Net neutrality advocates cry foul at the FCC; a White House petition for "true net neutrality" takes off; the "promise of hashtag" becomes an Internet meme; and much, much more. Read More
Weekly Readings: Data Speaks Louder than Words
BY Antonella Napolitano and Rebecca Chao | Monday, April 21 2014
A roundup of interesting reads and stories from around the web. Read More
Open Data Gives New Lease of Life for Civil Society in the South Caucasus
BY Onnik James Krikorian | Thursday, April 3 2014
Eric Barrett, Executive Director of Jumpstart Georgia at the Central Open Data Hackathon in Warsaw (Onnik James Krikorian)
Two weeks ago, on March 21, 2014, the Georgian chapter of leading international anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International called on the country’s citizens to turn off their mobile phones for one hour to protest government surveillance. The action came in the wake of revelations that the previous authorities were intercepting phone calls, text messages, and internet traffic on a systematic basis. The European Union calls the situation that still exists today under a new government, "a jungle of misuse of the possibilities of technology to record almost everything." Yet, despite concerns regarding the amount of data collected on citizens in the former Soviet republic, large online databases of government information might actually be giving the media and civil society in Georgia a new lease of life in fighting corruption and engaging citizens. Read More
First POST: Secret Sharers
BY Micah L. Sifry | Thursday, March 27 2014
Jimmy Carter on Edward Snowden; Airbnb partners with Portland as a "shared city"; open data engagement strategies from around the world; and much, much more. Read More
Citizens Use Technology to Fight Crime in Guyana
BY Jessica McKenzie | Wednesday, January 29 2014
With mapping technology and social media platforms at your fingertips, you no longer need to be bitten by a radioactive spider to take crime fighting into your own hands. Case in point: Guyana Crime Reports, which marries data journalism, mapping and crowdsourcing to make a powerful tool for citizen crime fighting.
Read MoreOpen Corporate Data For Everyone, Everywhere
BY Jessica McKenzie | Wednesday, October 16 2013
The open data movement is sweeping the world and its champions are determined that no government, organization or even corporation will be left behind. This summer OpenCorporates launched an open data corporate network platform on which they can collect, collate and visualize corporate relationship data. They are striving to be nothing less than the go-to database for corporate data, with “a URL for every company in the world.”
Read MoreGhanaians Push For Internet Access and Data Journalism
BY Jessica McKenzie | Monday, October 14 2013
Ghanaian civil society organizations have banded together in a push for greater Internet access in the country. Earlier this month 30 organizations called on the government to make Internet penetration a priority. The call took place turning a workshop on Internet freedom in Ghana organized by the Media Foundation for West Africa with support from a UK-based organization, Global Partners and Associates. Ghana's Communications Minister, Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Boamah, has voiced his support for the organizations' plea.
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