Advances in sensing hardware and computer vision algorithms have enabled common smartphone and tablet devices to be able to see and understand the world in more ways than ever before. Not only are these devices able to display 3D content, but they are quickly being equipped with technologies that allow for 3D capture. Applications have
The burden of malaria among pregnant women in Nigeria – an update on the reporting grants from Maternal Figures
Data shows that malaria accounts for 11% of maternal deaths in Nigeria. While it is not the lion’s share of the factors that contribute to maternal deaths, it is a significant one. In a story supported by the Maternal Figures Solutions Journalism Fellowship funded by The Brown Institute for Media Innovation, Premium Times reporter Chiamaka
The Brown Institute, Lenfest Local Lab and Philadelphia Inquirer are partnering to build content audit tools
Our collaborative project won the Google GNI Innovation Challenge, securing $300,000 to build and test machine learning-based tools that help newsrooms analyze equity and representation in their work at scale. Editor’s note: This post was co-written and edited by Michael Krisch, Deputy Director of the Brown Institute; Sarah Schmalbach, Product Director of the Lenfest Local
Local Live(s) – Innovative Storytelling Connecting Journalists and Communities
Crystal Niebla, a reporter from the Long Beach Post, looked through the camera lens and into the homes of people she served. She was recounting a story she reported, about a violent mugging in the Washington neighborhood of Long Beach where she used to live. As the story progressed, Crystal peeled back the layers of
Sylvia featured in Variety magazine
“Instagram is full of wannabes, but there was only one Sylvia.” On November 24th, Damon Wise, Writer at Variety magazine interviewed our creative technologist Ziv Schneider about her project Sylvia, which premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) DocLab this month. In the interview, Ziv reflected on this five-month-long social experiment in making an aging
Announcing the Computation+Journalism Conference for 2021
C+J 2021 —A virtual gathering. From the outset, 2020 looked like it would be a year of data and computation in journalism. Think of the events that were planned — from the 2020 Presidential Election to the decennial census, to the Summer Olympics, to the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. Each of these stories had
Superpredator: The Media Myth That Demonized a Generation of Black Youth
Our 2020-21 Magic Grant Wolf Pack has published its first piece — a deep dive into the invention of the term “superpredator”. The team “found nearly 300 uses of ‘superpredator’ in 40 leading newspapers and magazines from 1995 to 2000. Fewer than 40% of these articles criticized the term.” As Carroll Bogert and LynNell Hankock
‘Sylvia’ Premiering at IDFA DocLab
Have you ever known an aging robot? Meet Sylvia, the first aging virtual influencer. Premiering on November 20, 2020 at the International Documentary FilmFestival Amsterdam (IDFA), attendee’s can look back on Sylvia’s life, and witness its end. Virtual Influencers are computer-generated characters that exist on social media and appear as real humans. These characters are complex
Introducing ‘AR for Everyone!’: A Journalism 360 Project
The Brown Institute is excited to announce that our team members Ziv Schneider and Juan Francisco Saldarriaga have been selected as some of the winners of the 2020 Journalism 360 Challenge. The initiative by the Online News Association and the Knight Foundation focuses on using immersive storytelling to discover new ways to engage audiences and advance