Building journalist skills for future health crises
Speakers | Science in the Newsroom Africa
Science in the Newsroom Africa
Journalism Educator and Co-Founder of Jumpline
Andrew Mills is the co-founder ofJumpline, a community hub driving the transformation of journalism education. Previously, he helped establish the Medill journalism program at Northwestern University’s internationalcampus in Qatar and led the design of a new, overhauled curriculum for the campus. As a professor, his teaching has focused on media innovation, international reporting and the use of emerging technology to gather news and tell stories. He has reported from more than 25 countries and helps design and lead collaborative journalism projects around the world.
Digital Media Consultant, OSINT Essentials
Eoghan Sweeney is an online investigation specialist and trainer who has over the past decade helped establish, develop, and support digital verification and fact-checking operations at media worldwide.
To date, he has provided training or talks in 27 countries across five continents.
In 2018, he founded OSINT Essentials, which provides resources and expertise for online investigations and media literacy.
With news agency Storyful, he was instrumental in developing techniques and workflows that transformed it from a start-up to a recognised global industry leader and innovator.
As Global Training Director at First Draft, he led programmes such as the creation of the Google News Initiative’s training network in India, the formation of groundbreaking Indonesian project Cekfakta, and the training of journalists from across Germany to fight disinformation ahead of the federal elections.
Eoghan has given talks and workshops for the Facebook Journalism Project, educational institutions and international bodies such as the EU and UN, and contributed to reports and documentaries for broadcasters including the BBC, ABC News, CNA and Rai.
Founder and CEO, Fathm
Fergus Bell is the founder and CEO of Fathm, an independent news lab and consultancy. He is an experienced journalist, editor and leading expert in digital newsgathering, verification, newsroom innovation and collaborative journalism projects.
Fergus’ experience spans both the business and editorial sides of the news industry. He spent eight years at the Associated Press, where he became their first International Social Media and UGC Editor. He then headed up newsroom partnerships and innovation for digital newsgathering start-up, SAM Desk.
In 2015 Fergus founded Dig Deeper Media, advising broadcasters, publishers and start-ups on social and digital newsgathering, newsroom transformation and innovation.
In 2017 he co-founded Pop-Up Newsroom, a framework for collaborative journalism projects that has already seen success in the US, UK, India, Sweden and with the multi-award winning “Verificado” – an initiative designed to monitor for misinformation during the Mexican elections. In 2019 Pop-Up Newsroom was a core architect and partner of India’s ground-breaking Checkpoint initiative that innovated heavily with WhatsApp to tackle misinformation in the world’s largest election.
Fergus has been a Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow and is a graduate of the University of Leeds.
Journalism Trainer & Design Thinker
Laurens Vreekamp is the Google News Lab Teaching Fellow for the Netherlands, Belgium and The Nordics, and is a News Lab Innovation Sprint facilitator for newsrooms and publishers in these regions. Before joining Google, Laurens did design research with multiple Dutch news organisations (RTL Nieuws, Nu.nl, FD, Het Parool) as a Fellow of the 'Journalism Research Group' at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (HU). He taught UX & Journalism classes, worked with Dutch National Public Broadcasters innovation teams and has directed a live-radioshow called 'Nacht van het Goede Leven' (Night of the Good Life) on National Public Radio 1. He graduated as European Media Master of Arts in 2003.
Texas Regional Manager - Solutions Journalism Network
Holly Wise is Texas region manager for the Solutions Journalism Network, a senior lecturer at Texas State University and a former Fulbright Scholar in India.
West Coast Region Manager – Solutions Journalism Network
Michelle Faust Raghavan collaborates with West Coast newsrooms interested in solutions journalism. She spent about a decade reporting on policy issues and hosting for public media stations across the country. Most recently, Michelle covered health care policy at 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio. Before that, she was an education policy reporter at WCPN/WVIZ in Cleveland. She reported on health at WXXI in Rochester, New York as part of the regional journalism collaborative Side Effects Public Media. Michelle’s broadcast career launched at KAWC in Yuma, Arizona where she hosted Morning Edition. Michelle is passionate about mentorship and is actively involved with NPR’s Next Generation Radio project.
Editor and Consultant
John Crowley is a London-based editor and consultant who has more than two decades of experience working for local, national and international news titles.
He has taken on digital and managerial roles for The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and The Irish Post among others.
He is well versed with distributed working, writing and commissioning content around business, tech, newsroom management, burnout and disinformation. He also advises companies around the ever-changing digital media landscape, pitching journalists and audience insights.
