The Interactive Initiative for Social Impact, through its data for development programme Dataphyte, are to receive a $15,000 grant from the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University and Big Local News.
In Nigeria, Dataphyte journalists will research on the effects of the pandemic on food prices. The project submitted by Aderemi Ojekunle will analyse the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on food prices in Nigeria amid a decline in purchasing power. Data and research analysts Mbah Charles, Ode Oduu and Abidemi Oludiran, will be joining the team; alongside graphics designer Abdullah Abdulaziz and editor Victor Ndukwe.
Overall, JSK awarded $191,500 in funding to 11 projects worldwide. The 11 selected projects will receive grants ranging from $8,000 to $21,000 to cover data collection, analysis, and reporting costs on data-driven stories related to the COVID-19 pandemic. JSK focuses on helping journalism leaders succeed as effective change agents, improving access to information people need to develop and sustain democratic communities.
Interestingly, Dataphyte is the only African data journalism platform to win the JSK and Big Local News award, speaking to the value of work the organisation has done in just 11 months of its establishment. The founder, Joshua Olufemi said the grant award as well as other international recognition of Dataphyte are humbling and are impetus for the team to do more to sustain data-driven journalism in the country
These JSK-Big Local News Data Reporting Grants are being funded with support from the Google News Initiative.