New Media Gufa - The digital cave for experiential reporting & writing

The Digital Cave for Experiential Reporting & Writing

At Media Gufa, annually, a group of peer-nominated journalists, writers, or content producers enter a symbolic cave to take up the 72-hour reporting and writing challenge. Their views about the writing process are never the same again
Transforming our Storytelling

Participants in seclusion for a rigorous 72-hour session to write stories on the spot. They rely solely on new media or the old-fashioned shoe-string approach in a rural location to reconnect with the local community
Connecting with Local Communities

In the rural session, participants develop story ideas in consultation with villagers, and report and write stories of vital importance to the local community. They take the old-fashioned door-to-door, shoe-strong approach
Refreshing Our Craft

During the 72-hour events, often, sideline sessions involving members of the community are held on important themes such as media and information literacy, community media acess, public interest media and development
Enriching Professional Experiences

Lessons learned are recorded, and stories from both the rural and the urban Gufa events are analyzed and compiled with the objective to enrich professional experiences

Introducing Media Gufa

A new media-based experiential reporting & writing: research on emerging sourcing practices & story formats

Between 2012 and 2015, six new-media based reporting and writing simulations were held in various parts of Nepal as part of a research project on emerging sourcing practices and story formats. Gufa was an experiential reporting and writing project for journalists, writers and content producers. Its objective was to refresh the craft, re-engage professionals, and reconnect with the local communities. Participants were nominated by their peers or members of the public. Those who obtained the hightest nominations were selected to participate. The event was divided into two complementary parts:

1. Reporting with new media tools only (September): Those selected were invited to the 72-hour event held in Kathmandu. Participating professionals relied entirely on new media tools like mobile, internet, and social media. They were kept in seclusion under the supervision of a research team and are prohibited from direct human communication.

2. Reporting without new media tools (March): Participants from September returned the following year in March to complete the rest of the assignment. During their 72-hour assignment, they took the old-fashioned shoe-string, door-to-door approach to interact with the local community, and to report and write underreported local stories. This event was typically held in a rural village.

Often, side sessions were held on news/media literacy and other important and relevant communication themes. Lessons learned were recorded, and stories from both the complementary events are now being analyzed and compiled with the objective to enrich the professional experience.

Media Gufa Code Get Involved

Gufa Research Analysis Ongoing, Since 2016

The Gufa research team is reading through the massive data and stories collected from the six Gufa sessions held between 2012 and 2015. The materials will be coded and analyzed and the findings will be published sometime in 2017. The Gufa project began initially as a one-time research event, but continued until the sixth edition mainly on participants' demand. More sessions also meant more robust sample of data for analysis. The decision to organize further Gufa events or to wrap up the Gufa research project will depend on the line of i...

Learn More

Participants

See All

From the Blog