guardian.co.uk/katine - Winner of Launch Award 2008

Background

Building on its strong coverage of development issues and the success of its annual Christmas charity appeals, in October 2007 Guardian News & Media launched a groundbreaking three-year initiative, in partnership with the African Medical & Research Foundation (Amref) and Barclays, to support a community of 25,000 people in the Ugandan sub-county of Katine in overcoming the effects of extreme poverty, civil war and climate change.

Katine: it starts with a village is designed to bring an unprecedented degree of transparency to the process of development. Some of the Guardian’s most senior writers, photographers and film-makers, as well as Ugandan journalists, are involved in tracking Amref’s project across the five key areas of water, health, education, livelihoods and governance. Successes and setbacks are all being recorded.

User Experience and Interactivity

The growing number of visitors to the website can examine the work Amref is doing on the ground across the five key project areas.

They can also explore a virtual village and use its interactive features to view Katine villagers’ photo diaries, watch videos, listen to a Uganda radio programme and even play traditional Ugandan musical instruments.

Dedicated blogs regularly publish debate pieces focusing on a particular strand of Amref’s project or development in general. This allows users to discuss development issues and share ideas: crowdsourcing such as this led SolarAid to propose providing solar energy to power Amref’s field office in Katine.

In April 2008, picking up on the huge interest shown in the project by teachers, the Guardian launched an educational strand that includes fundraising and classroom materials for schools.

Success against Objectives

• A development NGO has never been subject to such public scrutiny, and the project provides a successful model that can be scaled up and replicated elsewhere
• The initiative is attracting international praise, with a report by the US-based non-profit Eisenhower Foundation describing the Katine project as "one of the most promising new variations on the public journalism theme"
• In June 2008, the Katine website won the New Media award at the 2008 One World Media awards, and in September a Clarion IVCA award for best website
• The installation of an internet link in Katine is further empowering the people of Katine to tell us about their own lives in their own words - another key aim for the site

Judges’ Comments

"An innovative new launch, which takes a single issue and adds an unprecedented level of depth and breadth."
Join the AOP group on LinkedIn - open for all Members to join
Subscribe to AOP's e-newsletter.