Belgium
Institut Supérieur de Formation Sociale et de Communication (ISFSC)
Theme: Collecting children from school by bicycle
Team: Olivier Labarre, François Namur, Nils Troch

Subject: an alternative to the school run, teaching children to use other means of travel in Schaerbeek.

A well-known subject on which the European Commission has had much to say. The theme of training children to cycle in town is still important, especially as the feature does not view it as a panacea. The students have done genuine field research into their subject by tracking a group of children, alongside the more academic task of deciphering the issues of mobility. It is the subject that does most to develop the concept of intermodality, but it is too general and more like an essay than a feature story. The style is readable but literary and linear; journalistic techniques are not used sufficiently, the headlines need reworking and the layout, though readable, lacks graphic input. On the other hand, the students have studied their subject comprehensively while maintaining detachment.

Brazil
Universidad de Sao Paulo
Theme: Helicopters in São Paulo
Team: Leonardo Grasso Leomil, Tais Bahov Perfeito

Subject: “private helicopters” for business travel, improving flying conditions in the city.

An original subject and a bold theme, which uses a marginal innovation to highlight social inequalities. Given that the people who travel the furthest are business executives, it is interesting to study city congestion from the viewpoint of the upper classes. However, it is a subject that should perhaps have been set off against a more general view of transport in São Paulo or treated comparatively with other strata of the population.. The page layout follows Portuguese journalistic criteria, with good use of insets. The introduction states the problem well, with a good analysis of the service’s complexity.

Brazil
Universidad de Sao Paulo
Theme: Making mobility easier
Team: Camilla Rossi Lins, Christina Paloschi Uchoa De Oliveira

Subject: city accessibility for people with motor and visual disabilities

This successful feature teaches us something new about a subject that is not new. It is one of the few texts that provides an overview of accessibility and which can be applied outside the field of disability, for example in relation to the right to mobility. While there is a good variety of viewpoints (private sector, users, key data) and the human aspect is well covered, there is a lack of connection between the three articles. The different writing styles are highly contrasted. The photographs are exclusively technical.

Denmark
Danish School of Journalism
Theme: Urban water transport
Team: Mai Helen Lykke, Mario Dolby Rasmussen

Subject: Developing stops and optimising routes to save time and increase passenger use in the Copenhagen region. Developing intermodality with harbour buses.

The theme chosen is riskier than the other reports, because the students have chosen to look at a failing service. It takes courage and boldness to be critical. The case description is to the point and the political issues well described. The feature is divided into two unequal parts with good journalistic elements, well used insets, relevant photographs but some repetitions. The choice of design made the feature difficult to understand for the International Jury. The aspect that stood out was the close-up on the city’s mobility policies, which differs from the usual arguments.

Ecuador
Individual Entry
Theme: Bicycles in Quito
Team: Alexandra Velasco (Universidad Central del Ecuador), Santiago Aguirre (San Francisco de Quito University)

Subject: combating pollution in the city of Quito, where the geographical position has created an oxygen deficit of 28%, by developing bicycle use.

This is not an innovative service in urban mobility but the value of this feature is that it reflects the views of civil society. As a feature, it is agitprop rather than journalism, and there is little detachment in the way data is handled. It is a pity that it does not really answer the question of the oxygen deficit in Quito. The journalistic style concentrates on direct testimony, but the students do not take their stylistic approach to its logical conclusion.

USA
Clark Atlanta University
Theme: Technological innovations in urban mobility
Team: Monique Russell, Althea Savage, Aria Turner

Subject: technological innovations in urban mobility

The subject of the “new technologies” is risky because a lot has already been written from this angle. It might have been relevant if the students had “detected” previously unknown technologies, but they stayed with well-known systems like satellite management of vehicle flows or high-tech wheelchairs. The feature comes across more as infotainment, with little connection between articles.

USA
Clark Atlanta University
Theme: transport of different population types
Team: Donnika Gordon, David Higgins, Autumn Williams

Subject: student transport, technology in Las Vegas, senior citizen transport.

Again, the subject is not new and the technologies highlighted lack originality. The technological response seemed too simple as an approach to the subject of mobility. The economic and social angle was a good idea to give substance to the subject, but it was not sufficiently developed.

USA
Clark Atlanta University
Theme: The Sky Train
Team: Jarrett S.Frierson, Marquita T. Kitchen, Caryn I. Renaud

Subject: the train of 2020 for a better urban mobility future, a global project linking several cities.

Producing three articles on a single subject was an original approach, but the essentially technological response to the problems of mobility seemed too restrictive. The articles describe old systems since the students discuss the HOV in Atlanta, introduced in 1994 to promote car pooling, and the AUC, a student shuttle transport initiative dating from 1991.

France
Centre de Formation des Journalistes – CFJ [Journalist Training Centre]
Theme: Electric vehicle in Aix: La Diabline
Team: Anne-Claire Ordas, Aude Pavani, Faustine Prevot

Subject: extending the life of an electric vehicle originally introduced for tourists

Electric vehicles have been around in several French cities and in Europe for over a decade. The subject, therefore, is not very original. This is a longstanding niche market. The layout and quality of writing are inadequate, which had the effect of devaluing the content.

France
Centre de Formation des Journalistes – CFJ [Journalist Training Centre]
Theme: The walking-bus
Team: Pauline Garin, Guillaume Pivot, Justin Villelongue

Subject: Promoting child mobility

The walking-bus is not really a new idea. On the other hand, there is a real concern for children’s safety on the way to school and it is a subject that will always interest people. Comparing this mobility service in two cities (Lausanne and Rome) and in different social milieus is a good approach. The result is a full and readable report on the service, with a good level of detail. The team has produced a highly professional video, which complements the subject and links with the text without duplications. From the social perspective, clear inequalities emerge, which it would have been interesting to develop by bringing a more international approach to the subject, notably for the article: “The world at their feet”. It is a piece of work that deserved an original design rather than a copy, albeit a well-known French weekly.

Download The IVM Jury Report in PDF format.