Nigeria: #Hackagainstebola Comes to Lagos

24 November 2014
Open Society Initiative for West Africa (Dakar)
press release

Lagos — The second Editors Lab named #HackAgainstEbola, will be co-organized by the School of Media and Communication (Pan-Atlantic University), OSIWA (Open Society Initiative for West Africa) and the Global Editors Network in Lagos on 24 - 25 November, in partnership with ICFJ (International Center for Journalists) and supported by Google.

The two-day event can be followed through the live blog on our website and with the hashtag #HackAgainstEbola.

This is the second of three Editors Lab focused on Ebola. The last one was in Accra (19-20 November, you can see the recap here), and the next one will be in Dakar (mid-January). It is part of a series of international hackdays hosted by world-renowned media organizations, in New York (The New York Times), London (The Guardian), Madrid (El Pais), Buenos Aires (Clarin), Paris (Le Parisien), and many more. You can learn more on the programme on our website.

Epidemics create panic, dangerous rumors and uncertified facts. Ebola has not yet been neutralized, so journalists must be prepared.

Unfortunately they don't have the necessary resources and tools that match the responsibility they have to inform local communities. The Editors Lab is trying to foster an environment to create those needed tools. The teams, composed of one journalist, one designer, and one developer, will work to build a prototype in 48 hours.

The participating teams are: Vanguard, The Nation Newspaper, News Agency of Nigeria, Television Continental (TVC), Channels Television, Yes International! Magazine, TELL Magazine, Voice of Nigeria, DigitalSENSE Africa Media, Nigerian NewsDirect and Unilag Mass Comm Department.

The participants will benefit from workshops, given by:

· Oluseun Onigbinde, Knight International Journalism Fellow, ICFJ.

· Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs manager, Google West Africa.

· Mikang Longjan, Program Coordinator, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

· Bakare Lawal, Team Leader, Ebola Alert.

· The team with the best project, will be chosen by our Jury:

· Babatunde Akpeji, Knight International Journalism Fellow, ICFJ.

· Mikang Longjan, Program Coordinator, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

· Evangéline de Bourgoing, Programme Manager, Global Editors Network.

· The winning team will compete against the other winning Editors Lab teams during the Editors

· Lab Final, the World Cup of Newsroom Innovation.

This final stage of the Editors Lab international tournament will occur during the GEN Summit 2015in Barcelona next June.

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