FROM THE BLOG
Some Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa Have No Online Presence. ‘Kumusha Takes Wiki’ Wants to Help Change That – Kumusha Takes Wiki is a pilot project working with local communities in Africa to reduce the information gap and correct the various misconceptions foreigners have about the continent.
A screenshot from Abasteceme
“South of South” is Free Music – Assembly! – The 2014 Rising Voices grantee projects are getting started. Throughout the year, we will be hearing about their progress through monthly blog posts. The first comes from the South of South project in Mérida, Mexico, which will be working with local musicians to connect and share local music online, including songs in indigenous languages.
Fill Your Summer With Learning: 7 New Online Courses – We've trolled the web to come up with seven ways you can make sure you don't get bored over summer vacation… new courses available online focus on journalism, computer science, and creativity-boosting.
Can't Find Milk or Other Basics in Venezuela Thanks to a Food Shortage? This App Can Help – Abastéceme pinpoints the locations of items such as milk, flour and bread in Venezuela, where basic goods can be hard to find at times.
TOOLS and RESOURCES
Past Webinars available from WAN-IFRA about journalism, digital security, and new media. See more HERE
Check out the Change Agency's toolkit for campaigners, encompassing over 1,000 resources. More info HERE
A new guide from the engine room: “measuring impact on-the-go; a users’ guide for monitoring tech and accountability programming” More info HERE
El Sur del Sur
Free webinar:12 Steps to Launching a Successful Social Media Strategy for Your NGO on 22 July. More info HERE
Anyone interested in learning more about the basics of journalism can take a free, online course on “Introduction to Journalism” course; will begin Sept. 29 and last six weeks. Topics of instruction will include news writing, opinion writing, feature writing, investigative journalism and politics reporting. More info HERE
FELLOWSHIPS
Journalists from Lebanon, Palestine and Syria can apply for a fellowship with Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism to spend time during the academic year at Oxford. More info HERE
The Earth Journalism Scholars Program is inviting journalists to attend the University of California-Berkeley for the spring semester of 2015 to take classes on journalism and environmental issues. Deadline is 27 July. More info HERE
COMPETITIONS and FUNDING
13th Annual Bastiat Prize for Journalism is open; competitors from around the world will submit their works on the importance of freedom. Win up to $10,000. Deadline July 31. More info HERE
She Leads Africa pitch competition for startup female entrepreneurs. Win up to $10,000. Application due 30 July. More info HERE
Check out the The Knight Prototype Fund – it helps media makers, technologists and tinkerers take ideas from concept to demo. With grants of $35,000, innovators are given six months to research, test core assumptions and iterate before building out an entire project. Next deadline is 1 August. More info HERE
Fellowship for reporting fellows to carry out a series of human rights-related assignments to be published on the GlobalPost. Award total of US$20,000. Application deadline 15 Aug. More info HERE
EVENTS
The Social Good Summit is a two-day conference examining the impact of technology and new media on social good initiatives around the world. In New York during UN Week (Sept 21-22). More info HERE
Open call to take part in the Future Innovators Summit with ArsElectronica. More info HERE
READING MATERIAL
Boosting Arabic digital content: new report examines challenges and opportunities
