Can Citizen Journalism Move Beyond Crisis Reporting in Traditional Newsrooms?
This is the first in a series of three posts, originally published on the PBS Mediashift blog. The aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings demonstrated yet another significant marker for citizen journalism. Felix Salmon, in an excellent post on the Reuters blog, wrote that the manhunt for a suspect in the bombings “in many ways represented the first fully interactive news story.” The crisis again demonstrated the value — and risks... Read More
Lowering barriers to adoption isn’t just one approach – it’s critical to real ‘scale’
This post is a write-up of a talk I gave at the recent Mobile Web East Africa conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Thanks to the team for inviting us to speak! Technology companies are in the business of changing habits. Creating a new tool, and getting people to use it consistently, means trying to change something about the way people get things done – moving from analogue to digital, from manual to automated, from one app to another, from WordPress... Read More
Don’t Call It A Comeback: 5 Reasons SMS Is Here To Stay
‘Unsafe day’ message received on phone. Photo credit: Georgetown University’s Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH) SMS remains the most popular two-way communications platform on the planet. In most cases, it’s inexpensive, casual, and discreet for users. It also represents one of the more profitable features offered by mobile network operators. And while SMS does face an increasingly fractured market, largely from the growth... Read More
Cooking up a menu of services: Responding to user needs for mobile engagement support
Training members of staff at SWAP in Kisumu, Kenya (photo credit: RickRoxburgh.com) The FrontlineSMS team is pleased to announce a new level of premium support and consultancy services to help users design mobile engagement strategies, build capacity for professional adoption and automate communication workflows. Engaging people on new platforms can be a complex process and it can be a challenge to find a recipe for success. New technologies... Read More
Low tech adaptations for a community communications system
FrontlineSMS was recently featured on the ‘Lets Them Talk‘ blog. In the post, Helena Puig Larrauri (@helenapuigl) highlights how the SUDIA community are using technology to bridge the information gap for communities living along the Blue Nile in Sudan. They are using FrontlineSMS to disseminate information about livelihoods and sustainability directly to communities. Thanks Helena for allowing us to repost! During a FrontlineSMS training... Read More
News Participation Starts at ‘Home’
Man standing on what was a boardwalk. Photo credits: Instagram, ncoronges Seemingly every major news event worldwide is heightening participation in news. People are eager to share updates and photos of an unfolding news event, ask questions of media outlets, and share important information. But there are two important aspects to this type of participation: (1) people are most interested in sharing news about the community around them, specifically... Read More
FrontlineSMS at 7: Al Jazeera gives a voice to the people of Uganda via SMS
In the third of our seven blog posts celebrating the month that FrontlineSMS turns 7, Trevor Knoblich, our Media Project Manager reflects on how Al Jazeera, the media house, gave the people of Uganda a voice, via SMS, in response to the controversial Kony 2012 video which went viral a few months ago. “As the media project manager at FrontlineSMS, I’ve heard many inspiring stories of journalists and media organizations deploying the... Read More
How technology democratised development
On September 7th 2012, our founder Ken Banks contributed a guest article to BBC Future, their website on technology, science, the environment and health, on the impact technology has on poverty eradication. FrontlineSMS featured on BBC “Twenty years ago, if you were information technology-literate and interested in international development, your options were limited. That’s how things were for me when, in 1993, armed with ten years programming... Read More
FrontlineSMS bring a free, innovative solution to African broadcasters
On August 29th 2012, balancing act featured Amy O’Donnell as she introduced FrontlineSMS: Radio to the world and how SMS is changing the way media houses interact with its listeners. Thanks balancing act for this great piece! FrontlineSMS: Radio featured on balancing act As TV and radio broadcast markets intensify across several liberalized African countries, broadcasters need to find solutions to create more interactive communication with... Read More
Catholic Relief Services uses FrontlineSMS to save Cassava Farming in Eastern Africa
A joint guest blog by FrontlineSMS and CRS manager Peter Mureith Climate change has severely affected the growth and production of crops on a global scale. Food security is a serious concern in many parts of Africa and Asia, and with a lower-than-expected yield in the US, unusually high rainfall in Europe and drought in the Horn of Africa, global food prices are expected to spike again in the coming year. Catholic Relief Service (CRS) has long been... Read More
