Newsrooms are complex, fragile machines that struggle daily with the balance between churning out large quantities of content while striving to create journalistic perfection. You can seldom just flick a switch, or plug in new people and new systems. Real digital transformation is much messier, and involves reskilling people rather than wholesale replacement.
That’s why Code for Africa (CfA) is partnering with Google News Lab and the World Bank’s Global Media Development Programme, to launch an intensive digital skills programme in 12 hub cities across Africa.
The Academy is partnering with 36 newsrooms in 12 African cities (see the full list of cities below) for bi-weekly onsite workshops teaching the most important digital tools and techniques for strengthening African journalists’ voices online.
The workshops will be hands-on practical sessions, with one-on-one tuition, designed to help participants master a new tool or technique each session, via a range of specialist courses over nine months.
Benefits:
- The StoryLab Academy offers ongoing webinars and newsroom-based workshops, along with monthly meetups in partnership with local Hacks/Hackers chapters.
- The Academy will also offer online courses and webinars, designed to teach just one tool or technique at a time, so participants can upgrade their skills at their own pace.
- Participation is free-of-charge. All you need to do is commit to use your new skills to create awesome journalism!
- Abuja
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In addition to newsroom partnerships, opportunities will include Mass Open Online Courses (MOOCs), public workshops and university partnerships.
All the workshops and courseware is free-of-charge and will include a combination of evening-classes and weekend bootcamps or crash-courses, each focused on a specific skill or tool. All lessons are experiential, and are designed to give participants hard skills they can immediately use in their work the next day.
Hacks/Hackers members who want to use their new skills for real-world projects are eligible for seed grants from the Academy, as well as technical and editorial support from the StoryLab itself.
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