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Top Tips: The leader we look up to could be you
Leaders don’t suddenly materialise. They struggle as they hone their leadership skills. To be a great leader you just need to believe in yourself.
Decoder Replay: After the Olympics, what then?
The Olympics are the pinnacle of an athletic career. But after athletes step off the podium a deeper challenge awaits. Who are they when the uniforms come off?
Correspondents in the Spotlight: Enock Wanderema
Journalism takes courage. So does moving from a rural village to a capital city. Correspondent Enock Wanderema shares his journey to becoming a global citizen.
From weed to feed: Using nature to control an invasive plant
Not too long ago, water hyacinth covered Lake Victoria in Africa. People found a tiny bug could help control it. Now farmers see the weed as a resource.
Top Tips: Speak to the uninformed without losing those who know
When you read or hear a story do you feel left out because you don’t know the background? Why do some stories leave us feeling stupid?
What it took to cover an unpopular war
In 1962 reporters arriving in Vietnam found an increasing U.S. military presence that wasn’t supposed to exist. Reporting what was happening took courage.
Decoder Replay: Covering the Olympics is a marathon
Journalists don’t win medals. But to cover the Olympics takes extraordinary stamina. You don’t want to let down the team.
Decoder: Are we over worried about underpopulation?
In Japan and elsewhere, governments grapple with a frightening future: Too few young to support too many old. How big a problem is this shrinkage?
Top Tips: When you can’t think of what to say, try drawing it
A photo might be worth a thousand words. But an artistic drawing can tell a story in a different, and powerful way.
Decoder: Warships in Cuba but no missile crisis this time
A fleet of Russian warships in Havana in June revived memories of the 1962 face off between Kennedy and Kruschev that had the world holding its breath.
Decoder Replay: Corruption hurts democracy and human rights
When the rule of law doesn’t apply to world leaders, can they be reined in? Should a president or prime minister be above the law?
A growing need and shrinking funds
Immigrants seeking asylum in New York City struggle to get help meeting basic needs. Nonprofit organizations struggle to fill the vacuum.
Using AI to understand how people consume news
Sonali Verma, who joins News Decoder’s board of trustees, pioneered the use of artificial intelligence in gathering journalism data.
Top Tips: Be prepared to be surprised
News Decoder asked four young women for advice for high school students. They say the future is what you make it but it might not be what you expect.
Using one’s own voice to tell other people’s stories
Over five days, young people working with News Decoder mastered the art of interviewing and learned what it takes to turn audio into a podcast.
Decoder Replay: Why a backlash against wokeism?
The term “woke” is caught up in a divisive culture war in the United States. Why is the idea of social justice not universally accepted?
Frustrated and fed up: Youth turnout could hit a record low in UK election
In the run-up to the UK elections, young people in Britain struggle to know where to turn. Their voice counts but does anyone listen?
Is this year of elections also the year of deepfakes?
Many people around the world already distrust their election systems. What will happen when artificial intelligence enters the picture?
Top Tips: Listen up!
In a world where everyone has to have their say, listening has become a lost art. But it is the key to getting the best stories.
What you need to know about France’s snap elections
We asked two correspondents based in France why the high-stakes national election matters. Here’s what they said.
Decoder Replay: Should half the world have fewer basic rights?
The UN says that in places where women face severe discrimination we need to recognize that as apartheid. But the idea is not universally accepted.
Decoder: How healthy is the world’s largest democracy?
Elections jolted the ambitions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ruling party. But they may have breathed fresh life into India’s flagging democracy.
Top Tips: Spotlight solutions not just problems
What’s the point of reporting on an unsolvable problem? Instead, identify solutions people can act on.
Teaching media literacy through journalism and education
One of News Decoder’s new board members has made it her mission to help young people navigate the media landscape to better understand the world they live in.
Decoder Replay: Civil war and starvation in Sudan
Civil war in Sudan is causing a humanitarian crisis in an already unstable region. This is not something the world can ignore.
Give youth a good reason to vote
There is a belief that young people don’t care enough to cast a ballot. But maybe politicians need to address the issues they care about.
Too many people, too few homes
Obstacles to building housing have created a homeless crisis in California. Can the “Golden State” find a way to house the people living on its streets?
Life-saving procedures for those who can pay
In India, tens of thousands need kidney transplants and can’t get them. High demand and short supply makes organs a valuable commodity.
Are you on a hero’s journey?
We may not recognize them, but we all undertake quests. They can be grand and cinematic, or quiet and reflective. They all change our lives.
A network of journalists across the world
News Decoder started with one journalist who sought to build global awareness in young people. Over the next nine years dozens of other journalists signed on.
By protesting, the French continue a long tradition of dissent
When you think of France, you might picture sitting at a café. But taking to the streets to air grievances is as French as Beaujolais.
Building a global network of students and journalists
News Decoder started as an idea: Informing youth about global events. It evolved into something much more.
Wh-Y Vote? When individuals vote across national borders
We asked our reporters in five countries to talk to young people about the European elections. They know their voice matters.
The pen might be mighty, but in war it isn’t much protection
With the 156,000 allied troops who came ashore at Normandy on D-Day were 500 news reporters armed only with pens, paper, cameras and recording equipment.
Wh-Y Vote?: Poland’s youth want a say in European affairs
Young people in Poland know that European integration is important. But they struggle to connect to political bodies that seem far away.
Wh-Y Vote?: Generation Z could turn Hungary’s EU vote
Hungary’s current government distances itself from the European Union. But young people share a different mindset.
Wh-Y Vote? Latvian youth like Europe. Voting not so much.
Latvian youth are not accustomed to democratic participation. How can they be encouraged?
Wh-Y Vote?: In Denmark youth seek European solutions
With fjords dying and seas rising, Danish youth will go to the polls knowing the nation’s problems are transnational.
Wh-Y Vote?: French youth struggle to find reasons to cast a European ballot
Freedom to travel across borders comes with EU citizenship. But will la jeunesse travel across town to vote as Europeans?
Decoder Replay: Can British citizens elect stability?
Brexit upended British politics. We look at the chaos that gave Rishi Sunak the office of prime minister as British voters decide whether to let him stay there.
Education that is about knowledge and action
The newest board president of News Decoder’s nonprofit wants to help students tell their stories and discover a wider world.
Decoder: Israel’s Gaza revenge convulses Arab world
The world’s attention is on Gaza. But Israel’s neighbors worry about their own stability as they fear the chaos will spread.
Decoder: Can the world bring leaders to justice?
The rule of law seems to apply to our enemies. For national allies a crime isn’t necessarily a crime.
How we know about our past and present
Historians dig up stories that document our past the way archeologists sift through relics. The more they learn the more we realize how much we don’t know.
Decoder Replay: The dangers of vaping become more clear
Vaping has exploded in popularity with young people. But the case against e-cigarettes for both smokers and non-smokers is mounting.
Telling stories in untraditional ways
Cathal O’Luanaigh, News Decoder’s newest team member, brings a multilingual and multimedia perspective to our schools program.
Making sense of wild creatures with photography
Determined not to disturb wildlife, researchers in Uganda are using a technology that dates back to 1906.
Evidence: Photos document the brutality of a dictatorship
Photojournalist Enrique Shore spent years capturing the work of a commission investigating the disappearance of tens of thousands of Argentine dissidents.
Top Tips: Jargon shouldn’t be a required language
Within professions, people use terminology to be precise. But for communication, clarity requires simple language.
Decoder Replay: A torch ignites Olympic fever in France
Millions of people will cheer their nation at the Paris Summer Olympics. Others shake their heads at its cost. Do the Games still serve a purpose?