ADH Community Journalism Fellowship

Working with the ADH project exposed me to happenings at the grassroot level. It gave me first hand interaction with the state of affairs and how neglected the people are by the people they voted to provide for them. The experience exposed me to great ideas and research, reinforcing what I already know on data analysis and visuals.

ADH helped me to grow and fine-tune my story telling to a data-oreinted one. During the training session, I learnt how to measure data, compare data to see if it tallies with what I gathered as well as analyse the data I got from my research. Ultimately, the training session opened me up to the National Adaptation Framework and Other implementation policies. And lastly, it helped me with strategies to track government spendings as it affects climate change in my state. Thank you for the opportunity.

The African Data Hub Community Journalism Fellowship Programme on climate change, was what I needed at this point in my career. The training from the fellowship exposed me to many skills that can enhance my career. I was trained on data collection and data visualization and I plan to use the knowledge gathered from the training to enhance my report.

It was an exciting experience for me as a health reporter, as the training provided a platform for me to learn, network, and upscale my skills around data collection, analysis, and visualization, as well as creating infographics. Also, it has enhanced my use of relevant data for information dissemination and access to health-related information on key indicators in the health sector. More so, the training has offered me the opportunity to use data in story writing by producing compiling data-driven stories and using innovative techniques in data gathering and translating it into stories

During my fellowship with ADH, I learned how to effectively communicate complex information to a wide range of audiences through visualizations, reports, and presentations. This collaborative environment allowed me to learn from the diverse perspectives and experiences of my colleagues and helped me to develop a more nuanced understanding of the role of data in journalism. Through this fellowship, I not only acquired valuable technical skills and knowledge, but I also gained a deeper appreciation for the power of data-driven journalism in creating meaningful change and holding those in power accountable. Overall, this fellowship was an invaluable experience that has equipped me with the skills and knowledge necessary to continue pursuing a career in data-driven journalism.

To say the least, I have never been conscious of using data in my stories, especially as it relates with climate change, until the training experience as a cohort III of the African Data Hub’s climate change community fellowship. The training was simply impactful. The highlight for me was data analysis using excel. Like it ever happened, I found myself loving data analysis, cleaning and visualization, and using different tools.

Patrick Obia started the training not feeling so confident with data and other digital reporting mechanisms. He found the training about what data is and where to find it very useful. The training sessions on using Google to find data, data visualisation, digital security, storytelling and fine-tuning, data fact-checking, how to use Earth Google map to be helpful technical skills. He has found the soft skills training on how to draft, address and send a professional eye-opening. He is excited to use the skills learnt from the Africa Data Hub Community journalism fellowship.

Ntiedo Ekott has learnt a lot about data journalism and reporting styles in all the training sessions by the Orodata Science team and mentors. His data handling skills have improved as a result of the training and he looks forward to having more capacity building of the same nature from future Africa Data Hub fellowships.

Nkechi Macaulay found the Africa Data Hub Community journalism fellowship intriguing and packed with information that is relevant to the current newsroom needs and environment. As a Radio reporter Nkechi was exposed to the need use in her reports as it lends credibility to reporting. The Fellowship also exposed her to mobile reporting as an addition to her radio storytelling. Nkechi believes she is a better reporter for having taken part in the fellowship.

The ADH Community journalism fellowship has been a rewarding experience for Fasilat Oluwuyi. It has opened my eyes to a lot about using data in storytelling, community journalism, and other types of reporting. Fasilat found the training provided by Orodata was engaging, interactive, and impactful. Through them, she has been able to learn how to better source data, data mapping, and multimedia storytelling. The fellowship also provided Fasilat with useful resources for telling community data-driven stories.

Elijah Akoji has had an insightful experience as a fellow on the ADH Community journalism fellowship. Each of the training sessions and the topics were carefully selected and relevant in today's journalist practice and to Elijah, especially as an investigative journalist. The sessions were handled by experts who understand the journalism profession, and their shared experience in the course of the training has helped Elijah to build an ethical mindset while on the field.

Daniel Adaji has come to each training session with anticipation and excitement because he believes that “they were actually designed to meet my career need as a journalist. Prior to this fellowship, I had little knowledge of the use of Geospatial and Remote Sensing analytics tools like Google Earth, Google Maps etc. in storytelling. However, I am now comforted and appreciate the use of Google Earth to enrich my story.” Daniel has learnt about video storytelling and the credibility that data adds to his storytelling, as well as how to track the impact of his stories.

Blessing Oladunjoye found the experience as a fellow of the ADH community fellowship more impactful than she imagined at the point of application. Through the fellowship she was exposed to the importance of reporting issues in my immediate community and how it can allow her to contribute to the development of her community. Blessing also learnt a lot from the training sessions about different reporting styles, data reporting skills and how to source/design data for her stories, and network with other data journalists. She was able to use these skills in the report that she produced as a fellow and use it further.

Jedidah Nguyo is delighted that she took a leap of faith and applied for the Africa Data Hub fellowship and was accepted. Jedidah has had lots of eye opening experiences and interesting insights about data journalism and credible storytelling. The fellowship has taught Jedidah that data is not a monster, it can be challenging but it's not impossible to crack.

Lynn Obwoge found the Africa Data Hub data journalism fellowship to be very insightful, and the experience “was amazing”. ADH has been impactful on her journey as a journalist by adding data and other elements as flavour to what she knew about journalism. She finds herself trying to investigate more and do indepth research so that she can take her publications as a journalist to “a whole new level.”

The Africa Data Hub Data journalism fellowship has given John insights into the process and effort that goes into writing good data stories. Through the training and mentorship he has learnt how to utilise data that is made available on different platforms and from different organisations and use it in his writing for credible storytelling.

The ADH fellowship has provided Fredrick with the opportunity to develop a data story from scratch by gathering and filtering data, and this has also been made possible by the immense support he received from experienced journalists on the fellowship team. He has come to learn about tools that he can use to filter, sort, and present data like Tabular, Flourish, and Data Wrapper among others. He has also learned how to navigate Google easily and use various tools to find specific data or information using OSINT techniques. He is eager to apply the vast knowledge that he have garnered in my future stories.

Ondari has found the fellowship educational and insightful and eye-opener to the fresh style of telling stories. Ondari has learnt how to sieve through data to make sense out of it in a simplistic and refreshing manner. The training has offered him great insights into data journalism.

Nelvin enjoyed the fellowship because the mentors were attentive and able to answer the questions asked by the fellows. The training has given Nelvin Mulama insights into how to use data effectively and appropriately in storytelling.

The Africa Data Hub Data Journalism Fellowship has helped Vincent Nyambane gain experience in data analytics and statistics. He has learnt what it means to extract trends and outliers from a given sample of dataset and use those threads to write an evidence based story.

The Africa Data Hub data journalism fellowship has been an enlightening experience for David. The fellowship has helped change his perspective on a number of issues, especially numbers - which he has always avoided. He has learnt that as a journalist, there is a way he can deconstruct the big or complex numbers and tell a story using simple and succinct language that an ordinary person can understand. He has also learnt how to mine data and optimize his internet experience.

This fellowship has helped Calmax to view storytelling from a different perspective. He has learnt how to source, arrange and present data in an effective way to make his stories more interesting, informative and educational. He has enjoyed the experience on the Africa Data Hub fellowship and learning a lot from his mentor who. He is looking forward to applying what he has learnt from the fellowship to improve his storytelling skills.

Samwel took part in the Africa Data Hub data journalism fellowship so that he could acquire skills in data journalism since he has never had training on data journalism. He has enjoyed networking with other journalists who are also interested in data journalism. He is now confident with using data as part of research and presenting findings in a way that suits the audience.

Brian enjoyed the fellowship experience with ADH, and interacting with young new minds like himself; and found sharing the different ideas and ideologies great. It was good for him to see that the journalism profession has a future beyond the status quo. The trainers, tooktheir time to ensure that the points of the fellowship are understood by the fellows. He also enjoyed the insightful instances in data that are absolutely new to him.

Obilo has found the insights shared by the trainers and mentors during the ADH data journalism fellowship insightful and educational. She found the fellowship interesting and has learnt much about how data can be used to tell authentic and credible stories, and how data-driven storytelling can be used to drive positive change and impact.

Linda Ngari is grateful for the training on data-driven storytelling that she has received during the fellowship. The hands-on approach that is used by Odipodev during the mentorship period helped Linda produce a detailed and well researched data story.

Francis has enjoyed the ADH data journalism fellowship and has changed his way of thinking about and towards data and numbers in the field of journalism and storytelling . Through the training and mentorship that he received on the fellowship he has gained confidence and appetite for working with data, and telling data driven stories.

Through the ADH data journalism fellowship Jefferson has learnt how to use data in his storytelling. The training on how to do data-driven journalism on the fellowship was intense and required dedication, he found the insights on how to incorporate data in storytelling informative. The fellowship has opened his eyes to how data can be used as a criteria for evaluating the credibility of a story that is not based on popularity and likes, but is based on evidence.

Elizabeth enjoyed learning about data and data journalism on the ADH fellowship. Through the fellowship she has realised how data can be used as a source of great stories, and give credibility to a data story when used in the right context.

Sophie had an amazing experience on the ADH data journalism fellowship. She has found the fellowship to be an interesting introduction to data and data journalism. She is eager to learn more about and apply data-driven storytelling tools in the future.

Through this fellowship Abigail has learnt the importance of sourcing credible and relevant statistics to support investigative community stories. The fellowship has opened her eyes to how data journalism and indepth research can be an exciting element to storytelling and give a story authenticity. Data can be a powerful tool for amplifying a journalist’s voice.

The ADH fellowship experience has exposed Victoria to data visualisation, infographics, and maps in her story telling. Her experience with journalism has mostly been in television and radio broadcast, this is her first in depth community investigation story that she plans to publish using multimedia. She has enjoyed the visualisation support from the Orodata Science team as well as the focus on data as an element of the story telling. She has found the journey exciting.

The ADH fellowship has given Tunde unique insights on how to approach stories with data as evidence, and data journalism as a career. The fellowship has “initiated [Tunde] into real data journalism.” He has been exposed to the importance of statistical investigation and data visualisation as an approach to producing evidence based stories. Through the fellowship he has realised the importance and scope of community based journalism, and he plans to tell more community based stories; it has changed his perspective on having to travel far for “big” news stories.

Sodiq has enjoyed exploring the use of data as an anchor for his ADH fellowship story, and has a greater appreciation for multimedia storytelling. The experiences he had on the fellowship drove home the need for community journalism and how community journalism can improve the lived experiences of people living in Nigerian rural communities. His story has been gotten a response from the Ogun State health ministry with plans to improve health facilities in the state’s rural community,

Ngozi has learnt how to do and use data deep-dives in her stories during the ADH fellowship, and it has been an amazing experience she aims to continue after the fellowship. See their prioritisation of underreported communities on this fellowship has been refreshing, the theme of health seem to bee common among the fellowship stories. It is exciting to be a part of amplifying the voices of these communities. Being able to support the voices of the people with data, and get technical support from the team with visualising data is really helpful.

The fellowship has been a great experience for Israel, using a range of visualisation tools (e.g. infographics, maps, charts, etc). Finding data to support a story can be easy if you are familiar with data, but there can be technical challenges in incorporating that data in a story in a meaningful way; the technical support that is available on this fellowship for visual communication has been very helpful. The ADH fellowship has allowed him to pursue a story idea he had because the funding and support is made available for this.

Bukola has enjoyed the freedom to dive into the research and data related to the publication of her data story. Her familiarity with data has allowed her to use data published in the latest WASH Report which she is using to support her story. The data visualisation support from the Orodata Science team has allowed her to focus on researching and writing her data story.

Through the fellowship, Ann has been able to publish a robust data journalism output using multi-media. Through the fellowship she has been able to explore various aspects of journalism as a whole; it has shown her how data allows a reconciliation between long form content by providing evidence, visual information that isn’t a photo, and text breaks that make written content more consumable. She has realised that multimedia journalism that if data-driven can allow her to explore the boundaries of journalism.

The Community Journalism Fellowship included training sessions before the fellows started their investigation and reporting, Adesola enjoyed the training session facilitated by Orodata Science. The training opened his eyes to a lot of elements a journalist has to look out for in community investigations, with insights on the relevant data sets and how to locate them, and how to interpret a data set in the present context. The resources provided in the fellowship helped him tell this particular story on a large scale. His data story has been published on The Nation, Ripples, and Naija News.

Dishon enjoyed the ADH training fellowship session. He has found the mentorship during the Fellowship beneficial to the development of his data journalism skills. He has acquired data sourcing and data visualisations skills that are essential in successful data storytelling, and has also learnt more about how to access publication channels for his data stories.

Ronald's experience from this fellowship has changed his perspective on journalism. He previously thought journalism was about justice and justice stories and has been surprised to find that it’s deeper than that, he realized data journalism is about telling a story through numbers, in everyday language for people concerned to derive meaning.

Karen has experience writing Lifestyle and Entertainment pieces in print and online for The Nation. This Data Journalism Fellowship has given her the opportunity to share the stories of people living with Fibromyalgia and how they cope with everyday life. Karen aims to publish in print and digital using photographs to tell this story.

Edith has learnt a lot from the ADH Fellowship experience. Her close interactions with her mentor have given her insights into data journalism.

Discovering the value that data can contribute to a story has given Trevor fresh enthusiasm for the work he does. As an intern at KBC Trevor was able to pitch this data story with the broadcaster and hopes to tell a positive story about how Kenyan policies and programmes have been effective in controlling Malaria in Kenya.

This fellowship gave Henix the opportunity to examine the implementation of the two-thirds gender rule of law in Kenya. He became aware that women leaders continue to face numerous challenges while rising through positions of leadership. Henix works with a Community Radio station: Pamoja FM - the voice of Kibera (a large informal settlement in the heart of Nairobi). Finding and analysing data related to this topic has helped him tell this story while still being sensitive to the lived experience of this community. Patriarchy is still a challenge facing this society.

In this fellowship, Derick has learnt that data journalism is not a thing of the future; it is now. He has discovered how incorporating data in his storytelling can really improve the quality of journalism he produces.

From my studies, journalism has been about storytelling and meeting deadlines, but I have discovered that data is an important part of telling credible stories

Through ADH Rosemary has learnt the importance of Data analysis and Data visualisation in Journalism. The trainers introduced her to the world of breaking down the hard concept of data into simple language, from sourcing, verification transfer, analysis and use of visuals, the practical part of the training with our coaches was well articulated as they moved step by step through the training. She has realised that data is no longer a luxury but a necessity while telling stories and as we move into a data world, Journalists should not be left behind.

The fellowship has provided Winny with the opportunity to get hands-on experience producing a data story with support and assistance from experienced data journalists. She has enjoyed learning about Tabular and actually using it to sort and analyse data for her story.