‘Digital divide’ hits rural Black Americans hardest
Los Angles/Washington DC Thomson Reuters Foundation The lack of internet access in the United States is particularly pronounced in rural, southern areas with higher Black populations, researchers said this week amid a battle in Congress over how to close the digital divide. African Americans across rural counties in 10 mostly southern states were nearly twice as […]
Luxury to essential: Latin America boosts internet access in pandemic
ANASTASIA MOLONEY and FABIO TEIXEIRA, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, report on how the pandemic exposed a deep digital divide across Latin America and the Caribbean – and what is being done to address it…
Churches at the heart of South African battle to bridge digital divide in COVID-19 vaccination race
Johannesburg, South Africa Thomson Reuters Foundation When Esther Dhlamini went to collect her pension in Johannesburg’s Soweto township, she was surprised to find a local bishop on hand to soothe her fears about COVID-19 vaccination and register her for the jab on his mobile phone. Community “foot soldiers” like the bishop are among numerous initiatives […]
Digital divide: How to unmute climate voices in poorer nations
SONIA ELKS, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
“Losing hope”: India’s COVID-19 meltdown exposes new front in digital divide
Lucknow/Mumbai, India Thomson Reuters Foundation As India’s daily coronavirus cases set global records, people desperately searching for hospital beds and oxygen cylinders are finding help on social media. But for others like Ruby Yadav, who has never heard of Twitter, time and hope is running out. Travelling by rickshaw, Yadav and her mother – who […]
Spanish art show spotlights “hidden” digital divide in pandemic
Barcelona, Spain Thomson Reuters Foundation A painting of a woman using an iPad, a vase depicting children dreaming of computers – both historical objects with a contemporary twist highlighting the world’s growing digital divide during the coronavirus pandemic. The exhibition at Barcelona’s Analog Museum of Digital Inequality aims to show how this gap – laid […]
Online church: US black churches use phones and Facebook to bridge digital divide amid COVID-19
ADELLE M BANKS reports for Religion News Service on how black churches in the US are working to help everyone get access to church online…