CJID's Press Attack Tracker gives Nigerian journalists shield against press freedom violations

The Citizens-Led Tracking Campaign bridges the gap between the implementation of the Basic Healthcare Provision Funds and the effective delivery of healthcare by sending citizens — called community champions — out on the grassroots level to track healthcare funding and ensure everyone who is eligible takes advantage of the care. Through the community champions’ efforts, 32,000 low-income and vulnerable individuals have been enrolled in the program.

Technology has made it easier to fact-check speeches and interviews in real time. The organization Fullfact has made software that processes dialogue looking for claims and highlights whether those claims match verified data. The tools help fact-checkers contribute to public debate around the world.

In an age where small, rural newspapers are shrinking and disappearing, local paper Harvey County Now started engaging more with its audience to find ways to better meet their news needs to keep money flowing and the newspaper afloat. From sending out e-newsletters, hosting local events and launching a premium membership program called Press Club, which grants access to benefits like concert tickets and exclusive events, Harvey County Now managed to increase its profits while simultaneously keeping its audience and print paper intact.

Baghdad resident Murtadha Al-Tameemi started organizing weekly clean ups at the banks of the Tigris river earlier this year, but it soon became a grassroots movement called Clean Iraq and encouraged residents to organize similar events across the country. In a place long-affected by war, it serves not just as an important effort and opportunity to save the river but to rebuild peace, cooperation, and a sense of normalcy.

Quote This Woman+ (QW+) is a database of women experts – as well as other people systematically ignored or misconstrued by mainstream media narratives. QW+ provides an easy way for journalists and news producers to find a vetted expert to speak with. Founders relied on referrals to build the database, with each newly added expert asked to refer at least five other experts in the field. The platform launched right before South Africa’s 2019 election with 40 experts in 25 categories and now has 513 experts across 49 categories and a newsletter subscription list of about a thousand journalists.

Retired software engineers in Washington have joined together and created a website that aggregates all available COVID vaccine appointments by using "screen scrapers." Although the site doesn't allow the visitor to book an appointment, it has routinely averaged "10,000 visits a day from anxious shot hunters."

Quick Response (QR) codes have become a popular way to conduct contactless business, and even contact tracing, during the coronavirus pandemic. Restaurants and retail stores allow customers to order and pay by scanning the codes with their smart devices, which pulls funds from payment accounts like PayPal, or their bank account, debit, or credit card. Public health agencies in the UK display QR codes that people can scan to “check in” and if someone tests positive for Covid-19 at that location people who scanned the code within 21 days are notified. QR codes hold massive amounts of data reliably and cheaply.

BlueConduit, an analytics startup, applies statistical models to identify neighborhoods and households that might have lead pipes. The models include dozens of factors, such as the age of the home and proximity of other homes where lead has been found, to help predict likely locations of lead pipes and create a ranking by likelihood that cities can use to prioritize which pipes to examine. In Flint, MI, about 70% of the homes identified using the models had lead pipes, compared to about 15% of homes where excavations did not use the model. The company is working with organizations in dozens of other cities.

After Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, knocking out power across the country, solar energy has stepped in to be a sustainable possibility. Such efforts have included lobbying local legislatures to incentivize communities to create their own solar project and training residents to install solar panels on their own. Many of the solar initiatives that have started have been community-led and hyper-local, meaning that what many deem a basic right – access to energy and electricity – are more accessible than ever.

Getting away from daily publishing helps local newspapers focus on serving their audience. The Quoddy Tides, a family-owned newspaper in Eastport, Maine, publishes only twice monthly. Publishing less frequently allows the newspaper to include more local stories, which are of interest to their community of readers, many of whom either live in, or have ties to the community. By avoiding the 24-hour news cycle, the newspaper can focus on local discourse and civic engagement.