Lebanese-based Nisrine Ajab has won the Thomson Foundation mobile journalism challenge and five others have been commended.
Nisrine, who is from Beirut, along with others on the competition's final shortlist, discarded planned videos because of the coronavirus lockdown and shifted instead to filming the impact of the pandemic on their communities.
The course had been due to be completed by the end of March but Thomson Foundation extended the deadline into April because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It also issued new guidelines, recommending participants work from home and to make coronavirus the theme of their videos.
Rather than abandon the programme because of the lockdowns, we thought it important to highlight how mobile journalism was even more an essential tool for journalism in the circumstances, says Hosam El Nagar, director of inovation and learning at the foundation. The majority of journalists have a phone with them and it is the one tool that will combine multimedia with connectivity.
A simple life under lockdown Now in its sixth year, the challenge, run in partnership with MojoFest, the world's longest running smartphone content creators festival, is aimed at helping journalists around the world make better use of their smart phones. Participants completed a series of free online courses and, for their final assignment, made a film entirely on their smartphones.
For her final assignment, Nisrine interviewed a neighbour to produce an outstanding, elegiac film about growing lavender in the mountains above Beirut.
As well as tips on how to grow lavender, her erudite neighbour had a wider message about how the coronavirus should encourage people to recognise the value of a simpler life.
The story was editorially and visually engaging, the variety of shots was dynamic and very well filmed, the editing had good pacing and was very well executed, and technically the piece stood out among the competing entries, says Glen Mulcahy, the foundation's in-house expert on mobile journalism and founder of MojoFest.
-- Play
-- --
Finalists Nisrine was one of six finalists in the Mobile Journalism Challenge.
The other finalists were:
-- Play
-- --
Marina Milad - A digitial investigative journalist from Cairo. For her final assignment completed before lockdown, Marina produced a dramatic, newsy film on the consequences of flooding in Egypt.
-- Play
-- --
Maksuda Aziz - a multimedia journalist from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her engaging and sympathetic film centred on the impact of the lockdown on a family during the Covid-19 pandemic
-- Play
-- --
Lika Toloraia - A journalist from Dnipro, Ukraine. Her video shot during lockdown in the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the confusion over restrictions imposed during the lockdown.
-- Play
-- --
Christophe Hitayezu - A news correspondent for the news platform Down to Earth India in Kigali, Rwanda. His enterprising piece stitched together items about Covid-19 from social media.
-- Play
-- --
Daria Smetanko - A journalist working for the television channel Ukraine based in Kyiv in Ukraine. Her film catalogued a day in her life as a journalist under lockdown.
Prize Nisrine won an all-expenses-paid trip to MojoFest in London. MojoFest was originally scheduled for May but has been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The other five shortlisted have been commended for outstanding content. All who completed the course receive certificates of achievement.
Overall, I felt the quality was well above average, says judge Glen Mulcahy. And clearly demonstrated that going through the free Foundation Mojo course on Journalism Now paid dividends in quality and approach of the storytelling.
The judges were: Glen, who is a former head of innovation with RTE, Ireland's national public broadcaster: Hosam El Nagar, who is leading Thomson Foundation's drive into e-learning; Berna Namata, journalist and the foundation's Africa specialist; and Ewen MacAskill, the foundation's mentor and award-winning former Guardian journalist.
The importance of mobile journalism
Glen Mulcahy - Covering the Covid-19 Pandemic - Smartphones For over a decade, the mantra among mobile photographers and mobile journalists has been the best camera is the one you have with you. In these unprecedented times of social distancing and working from home that device, the smartphone, can - and has - empowered a vast array of journalism and storytelling.
To be able to leverage it to even a fraction of its full potential requires knowledge and understanding of the best apps, accessories, workflows and hacks available.
Now, more than ever, journalists need to be able to competently utilise the tools they already own. It's not just a phone. It's a HD/4k video camera, a diverse photography device, a complete video and/or audio editing tool, a broadcast live streaming too that can also make phone calls. Learn to use it.
Ewen MacAskill Investigative journalism
Ewen MacAskill is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former defence and intelligence correspondent for The Guardian who acts as a mentor for Thomson Foundation trainees.
We get around. Explore our project map
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
Lebanese-based Nisrine Ajab has won the Thomson Foundation mobile journalism challenge and five others have been commended. 
