How a project is training incarcerated people to become journalists
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/how-a-project-is-training-incarcerated-people-to-become-journalists?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Julia Métraux
Poynter
26 January 2021
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In its first year, the Prison Journalism Project published hundreds of articles by more than 140 incarcerated writers in 28 states. The project provides journalism-skills training and then a platform for the work of incarcerated journalists. This delivers news and viewpoints that otherwise would not be heard by outsiders, spreading awareness of prison conditions and empowering often-ignored people to tell their stories.
How 60 reporters from 25 media outlets in 18 countries are finishing the work of murdered journalists
https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/how-60-reporters-from-25-media-outlets-in-18-countries-are-finishing-the-work-of-murdered-journalists?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Amaris Castillo
Poynter
25 January 2021
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The Cartel Project, a collaboration of 60 journalists from 25 news organizations in 18 countries, produced a five-part series on the murder of Mexican journalist Regina Martinez and on the subjects that her killers attempted to silence: particulars about drug trafficking and political corruption. The project was founded on the principle that journalism must be a cross-border collaboration to counter transnational crime syndicates. The series documented the role Mexicans play in the international drug business and in spying on and censoring journalists who seek to reveal these secrets.
Is There a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-22/covid-is-making-cities-rethink-homelessness-data?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Kriston Capps
Max Reyes
Bloomberg
22 January 2021
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A campaign to end housing instability is counting on frequent data collection to provide a clearer insight into the reality and needs of those living on the streets. “Built for Zero” aims to replace the current federal HUD model which consists of a single annual physical count of the unhoused. The data are used to create a command center which streamline the response from various groups and agencies that can address the issue of homelessness. The city of Bakersfield, California, was able to functionally end homelessness even with the onset of the pandemic after implementing the data-driven strategy.
Zoom Funerals, Outdoor Classes: Jails and Prisons Evolve Amid the Pandemic
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/01/19/zoom-funerals-outdoor-classes-jails-and-prisons-innovate-amid-the-pandemic?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Keri Blakinger
The Marshall Project
19 January 2021
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When the pandemic forced jails and prisons to ban educational classes and cut off visits between outsiders and their loved ones behind bars, some jailers opened their facilities to remote-learning and -visiting tools. The result is a boom in the use of video conferencing for literacy classes, vocational training, family visits, and even to enable incarcerated people to attend family funerals. Some advocates for the incarcerated worry that in-person interactions could permanently be replaced by video, even after the risk of viral infection has eased.
How Open Source Experts Identified the US Capitol Rioters
https://gijn.org/2021/01/15/how-open-source-experts-identified-the-us-capitol-rioters?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Rowan Philp
Global Investigative Journalism Network
15 January 2021
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Digital sleuths preserved a trove of evidence from the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by acting quickly to "scrape" and archive videos, images, and other data from social media. Investigative journalists from Bellingcat, the Toronto-based Citizen Lab, and Czech data archive Intelligence X were among those who responded before rioters, worried about criminal charges, began deleting posts. Crowdsourcing calls for assistance also produced a robust response from people anxious to aid law enforcement or debunk post-riot disinformation.
How Californians are resorting to crowdsourcing to get their Covid-19 vaccine
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2021/1/15/22231241/california-coronavirus-vaccine-availability-moderna-pfizer?utm_source=Solutions+Story+Tracker
Kelsey Piper
Vox
15 January 2021
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Residents of California are working together to crowdsource where COVID-19 vaccinations are being offered, and who they're being offered to. While the state has failed to implement a transparent dissemination strategy, 70 volunteers joined forces to create a spreadsheet that keeps track of what clinics are offering the shot and what parameters must be met to receive it. Users have reported that they were able to schedule an appointment because of this effort.