Hacks/Hackers prep for exhausting elections, energizing conferences

News last week was dominated by fallouts of the Brexit vote, attempted Turkish coup and spread of the Zika virus. News in the U.S., however, was dominated as it always is these days: by Donald Trump and his political party last week, and Hillary Clinton and her party this week.

Week ahead:

• Miami and IRE are holding their regular weekly open labs
• Tokyo is tackling Artificial Intelligence
• Brisbane is debuting a sneak peek at the upcoming Storyology conference
• Uruguay is discussing recyclable data projects

Group spotlight:

Hacks/Hackers Nairobi met this month for an open government session in conjunction with the Kenya Open Data Initiative. Organizer Serah Njambi Rono said the group strives to hold meetups monthly, prioritizing regular events over finding a specific topic to talk about. Topics can vary, she said, but what’s important is that it’s a cohesive, active group.

“Setting dates is where the hard work is, so it is easier to plan for meetups every quarter, half or annually if you can. This way, you are able to commit to regular meetups throughout the year.”

Attendee Prestone Adie posted an update on the H/H blog, taking a look at Kenya’s 6-year-old public information law and well it has been implemented so far.

Worth a read:

• Some publishers are turning to Facebook and Snapchat for video content, since YouTube lacks a sharing network (Wall Street Journal)
• BuzzFeed launched BuzzBot last week, a chatbot that shares news via the Facebook Messenger app (Poynter)
• Edward Snowden and app developer Andrew Huang created a phone case that can detect “radio-snitching” (Wired)
• Chalkbeat, a journalism startup, is experimenting with story types and audience growth in education coverage (CJR)

Job openings:

• Africa:
• Mail & Garden Africa is looking for a digital editor in Johannesburg
• North America:
• The Marshall Project, a startup covering criminal justice, wants to hire a director of technology
• ProPublica is taking applications for its reporting fellowship
• The Washington Post is looking for a graphics assignment editor
• The Charlie Rose show is seeking a digital engagement editor
• Florida International University is looking for a Knight Innovator in Residence
• tronc, Inc., is hiring data scientists
• Digital First Media is looking for a WordPress developer based in Denver
• Europe:
• Radio Free Europe, based in Prague, is looking for someone to manage their digital news archive
• The Sun in London is hiring designers for its digital platforms
• Telegraph Media Group is hiring a data journalist

Other upcoming events:

• July:
• July 28-29 – Portland, Oregon, USA – SRC CON, a Mozilla conference for journalist coders
• August:
• Aug 10-13 – Sydney, Australia – Storyology, a journalism and storytelling conference
• Aug 25-27 – Buenos Aires, Argentina – the Hacks/Hackers Buenos Aires media party
• September:
• Sept 15-17 – Denver, USA – Online News Association (ONA)’s annual conference
• Sept 17-20 – New Orleans, USA – Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism conference
• Sept 20-22 – Jakarta, Indonesia – Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)
• Sept. 22 – New York, USA – NYC Media Lab Annual Summit, for executives, academics and startups to convene around future of media
• (Hacks/Hackers community members can register with a 25% off discount code: HACKSHACKER)
• Sept 23-24 – Toronto, Canada – Hacks/Hackers Connect Toronto
• Sept 23-25 – Kathmandu, Nepal – Asian Investigative Journalism Conference
• Sept 29-Oct 1 – Miami, USA – Digital Humanities + Data Journalism Symposium