As coronavirus sweeps through communities around the world, the Membership Puzzle Project has shared examples from newsrooms around the world on how they have quickly adapted pillars of their membership programs and memberful routines to respond to the realities of this crisis.
Investigative filmmaking on the coronavirus pandemic is continuing apace, despite the obstacles presented by travel restrictions, health risks, and the relentless daily news cycle. There are plenty of opportunities for journalists to work with major broadcasters, including GIJN’s new online tool to pitch commissioning editors, launched at our latest webinar on collaborative TV and video investigations.
In a global crisis like this, journalists play a critical role: they inform the public and they monitor and report abuses of power by officials. But how can they do this when they’re dealing with psychological stress and threats to their own health and safety? In this webinar “Staying Safe: How to Report a Pandemic,” two experts will focus on how to best manage the multiple threats faced by journalists when reporting on COVID-19.
From “flattening the curve” to “social distancing,” and now “breaking the wave,” the global data journalism community is using new terminology in its attempts to explain the intricacies of COVID-19 to the masses. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from April 6 to 12 finds Reuters Graphics explaining their “breaking the wave” chart, The Washington Post helping readers figure out the best material to use to make their own masks, the Financial Times comparing the response of China and the United States in handling the pandemic, and Press Gazette highlighting the huge appetite for data-driven visual journalism about COVID-19.
With the extraordinary measures being taken to counter the coronavirus outbreak, the work of investigative journalists scrutinizing abuses of power and exploitation of the vulnerable has never been more vital. Amid the fast-unfolding crisis, where should investigative reporters begin? GIJN asked leading journalists in our community for their advice to investigative reporters around the world.
Data journalists are starting to dig into the impact of the coronavirus and social distancing measures on poorer communities. Our NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 30 to April 5 finds The New York Times and Reuters using smartphone location tracking data to analyze the relationship between income and changes in people’s movements post-lockdowns, National Geographic visualizing how earlier implementation and longer social distancing measures can help slow infections and lower death rates, and ProPublica looking into the disproportionate infections among African Americans.
Despite government restrictions, journalists around the world are using freedom of information laws to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and the response of international, national, and local authorities. GIJN’s Toby McIntosh outlines how to craft an effective freedom of information request and provides tips and suggestions on where to make requests and important questions to ask.
Three veteran journalists on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis discuss investigative angles into the response in the first of GIJN’s webinar series, Investigating the Pandemic. Gloria Riva of l’Espresso in Italy, OCCRP Editor Drew Sullivan and GIJN Chinese Editor Joey Qi discuss the importance of source-driven investigations and dealing with disinformation and data deficits.
The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the production of various interactives, charts, and simulations by data journalists and citizens around the world. This week’s NodeXL #ddj mapping from March 23 to 29 finds The New York Times explaining the dangers of ending social distancing measures by Easter, Germany’s Der Spiegel and Der Tagesspiegel measuring traffic levels and COVID-19 cases respectively, the Tampa Bay Times monitoring the situation in Florida, Kevin Simler making an interactive simulation to explain how general epidemics unfold, and Mona Chalabi creating a viral TikTok video on Mark Zuckerberg’s donation to advance coronavirus research.
