Amazing Datajournalism Tool: Build Your Own International Human Development Index

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

Be sure to check out this amazing new website from the UN that allows you to build your own International Human Development Index by dynamically changing the criteria used. Incredibly the website also allows you to upload your own data sets for inclusion in the index, or download the official ones in spreadsheet format for analysis or custom mashups.

The UN recently released its Human Development Report 2010 (20th Anniversary Edition), entitled The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development. Drawing on a phenomenal range of statistics, the index is intended to to stimulate global, regional and national policy discussions on issues that are relevant to human development.

Courtesy of Vox Publica.

The Future of Social Media in Journalism

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

Vadim Lavrusik:

all media as we know it today will become social, and feature a social component to one extent or another. [...]

But more importantly, these social tools are inspiring readers to become citizen journalists by enabling them to easily publish and share information on a greater scale. The future journalist will be more embedded with the community than ever, and news outlets will build their newsrooms to focus on utilizing the community and enabling its members to be enrolled as correspondents. Bloggers will no longer be just bloggers, but be relied upon as more credible sources.

Excellent overview of:
- Collaborative Reporting
- Journalists as Community Managers
- The Social Beat
- Social Stories
- Online Curation for a “Time-Poor Audience”
- The Social Network as the New Editor
- Beyond Twitter & Facebook
- Monetizing Social
- A Social Newsroom and the Personal Brand
- A Mobile Social Experience

Source

Future Challenges of Megatrends

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

Great blog network set up by the Bertelsmann Stiftung to discuss the newest research results, innovative ideas and best-practice examples in the following interacting megatrends:

- Demographic Change
- Migration
- Climate Change
- New Governance
- Natural Resources & Biodiversity
- Security & Anti-Terror Policy
- Pandemics
- Globalization

futurechallenges.org wants to foster the dialogue between experts and non-experts. Our aim is to empower people and institutions to discuss future challenges. For the very first time in the history of mankind we truly have the chance to understand our future as a common global one and to shape it by using the power of networks and the wide range of online collaboration tools.

Source

Nonprofit Bay Citizen launches to provide public interest news

Posted on May 26, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

Emma Heald:

The Bay Citizen (formerly the Bay Area News Project) launches today, aiming to "enhance quality civic and community news coverage" in the Bay Area, in partnership with the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. The nonprofit project was founded in September 2009 with $5million in funding from the Hellman Family Foundation and additional support from the Knight Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, and others.

The site promises "original multimedia news and information about the Bay Area" distributed using "cool technology" that allows readers to share news, have conversations, and "truly be a part of the community." Readers are invited to donate.

External link

Global Action Atlas by National Geographic – Mapperz

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

"The Global Action Atlas spotlights hundreds of local, cause-related projects from around the world to a large audience of concerned citizens, giving individuals opportunities to take action by donating, volunteering, advocating, and sharing information. The Atlas enhances and extends the mission of the National Geographic Society"

Themes of interest include Conservation, Humanitarian Affairs, Cultures, Exploration, Climate Change and Energy."

View the Global Action Atlas – http://www.actionatlas.org/map

External link

Del.ici.us tags: maps mapping nationalgeographic activism conservation humanitarian culture exploration climatechange environemtn civicmedia

Citizens map the Gulf oil slick with balloons and kites – MIT Center for Future Civic Media

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Einar Thorsen

We're not trying to duplicate the satellite imagery or the flyover data (though we’re helping to coordinate some of the flyovers and trying to make sure the data is publicly accessible). We believe in complete open access to spill imagery and are releasing all imagery into the public domain."