opening data in afghanistan

Journalists in Afghanistan face violence, intimidation, and threats that undermine their ability to produce quality reporting.

Together, Internews and their local partner Nai are working to improve media freedom, funding and implementing projects designed to support and train local journalists.

In this case, they are working to document the extremely difficult circumstances journalists routinely face that prevent them from carrying out their work.

The Story

Open Data Initiative in Afghanistan

Threatened: 77

Beaten: 73

Arrested: 61

Killed: 27

Kidnapped: 23

Injured: 11

The Numbers

266Incidents

(2001-2011)

Nai's MediaWatch team has collected and aggregated hundreds of detailed reports of violence against journalists in Afghanistan. The database covers ten years (2001-2011).

The Data

Open Data Initiative in Afghanistan

We set out to create a visualization that exposes the challenges that journalists face and allow other CSOs and the public to interact with Nai’s data through a fast, dynamic, interactive map.

data.Nai.org.af not only allows better analysis of the situation but also enables collaborations and networking between Afghanistan's CSOs around data sharing and strengthens links between the media sector and the broader civil society.

The Intent

Open Data Initiative in Afghanistan

Interactive Data Maps: All data is geotagged down to the province level and the size of the point represents the number of reported incidents. Mousing over any point shows specific data for that province.

Visualizing Complex Relationships: To add context, the site allows you to view additional maps and combine data sets, from reports of corruption to ethnicity.

Granularity in Navigation: The map lets you filter the data by year. and see data specifically for each province.

Raw Data: All the original data is displayed under the map to let power users see all the details. The listing of data is fully interactive, so you can select a column and the data will filter for you.

Using open data: all data is cited, pointing users to original source documents.

Using open data: all data is cited, pointing users to original source documents.

Using open data: all data is cited, pointing users to original source documents.

Violence against journalists has an impact on media freedom which in turn affects the work of all CSOs.

That's why this data needs to be shared with others, so that other non-media organizations can buy-in to defending media freedom, and where appropriate get involved and collaborate with media organizations like Nai in protecting journalist rights and their ability to their work.

Opening Data

Open Data Initiative in Afghanistan

100% open data: Users can download the data or the geo data.

Powered by Open Source: Both the maps and the code that power the data browser are made using open source tools.