dci : lessons learnt 1

The Small View: Who is an African, what's the definition of Indaba, Where's Grahamstown?
The Bigger Pikcha: How will lessons learnt better anyone, African or not.

i got me a nice shot of some street name in Grahamstown - very appropriate for the debate that was.



DISCLAIMER: Kelele za chura hazimzui ngo'mbe kunywa maji mtoni // the cries of a frog do not hinder the cow from drinking in the river.

It's amazing how much you can learn in a space of one week. Mental na Bankelele, thanks again for the great company - made me realise that blogging is not only about skills networking but also social networking. Ory, Mzalendo got me inspired. Am gathering some answers to the ques you raised in your first Powerpoint presentation! Way to go!!! The pro bono offer still stands.

The precursor to the DCI was the Highway Africa, an annual kongomano of African (oops...... this word is too sensitive nowadays) journalists with a focus on encouraging them to continously engage and capitalise on new tech to play bigger and better roles in serving the public. Both the conferences had plenty of lessons (regardless of the skincolour of the speakers).... The following are lessons i learnt and i hope (besides Aco, others will benefit from).

• Technology is a means to an end, or at least it should be. It can be used to advance or hinder access/development. Lack of knowledge of tech advances may well increase the digital divide and thereby requiring greater efforts to bridge this gap.
• Advances in tech should be embedded in social policies i.e. what benefits do people/communities derive from such technologies. In the case of blogs, we should be looking at how new media can positively advance our causes, lives etc
• New media has great potential to lower literacy levels, advance sociopoliticoeconomic development across Africa
• The use of SWOT analysis and the Pareto Principle when making quality-related decisions. This i found motivating becoz you can apply these principles across the board and even when it comes to things am passionate about e.g. enhancing art in social settings.
• Implementing Quality Culture where quality indicators are audited and maintained on a regular basis...... i do agree with Ory, i think if you do this on a micro-level, then you begin to effect change globally..... and we can pray that soon, that quality culture is heeded by our governments etc
• Elements of journalistic ideology include a) Public Service b) Objectivity c) Autonomy d) Immediacy and f) Ethical. If we relate these to blogging, then can we say that blogging is journalism? The discussions did not finish, but i am of the opinion that blogging is journalism, albeit the "code of conduct" that strict journalism operates within. In a way, if a jamaa from Isiolo blogs about his/her life, regardless of whether its objective or subjective, it tells us alot about that place and paints a base picture of life there.
• The Long Tail is the name given to the diagram that represents..... ok, let Wiki say it better. The whole idea is that there are these millions of sites that make up the long winding end of the "tail" and this is where majority of web users are.
• Afropessism, the attitude that nothing good comes out of Africa is being changed by Africans writing and telling their own stories, thru blogs.
• The internet revolution changes the flow of info from top-bottom to bottom-up. Bloggers in particular feed local knowledge from the ground up.
• Pertinent questions were raised: - a) Who decides on the debates within the new info economy? b)How are we to move on without overlooking "pedestrians" - i.e. ensure accessibility to all? c) How do we avoid tendencies to shut out others in this new media economy?
• One major pitfall in Africa has been managing our diversity, case in point Sudan, Rwanda and South Africa. Africans must own their own problems and find their own solutions. We must defy myths that our problems will be solved by others, or awaiting a messiah.
• Online media differs from mainstream media in these ways: - a) Interactivity b) Hypertextuality c) Multimediality. These make it much more versatile and increases its value and accessibility.
• The above benefits have seen the rise of Electronic Empires like Google, Microsoft, AT&T and AOL.
• Despite these, new media has the following constraints: - a) The medium needs accessibility, telecom infrastructure, computer literacy etc b) Liguistic bias - few publish in African languages.... Jikomboe and his whole network - Pongezi kwenu!! Mko miles ahead. c) Social shaping - the use of the net is personal not universal d) Competition with establishes news agencies e) Institutional arrangements between African newspapers and continental-based agencies
• Interested in Masters of Arts degree in Journalism and Media Studies, starts mid-Jan '07. Apply for scholarship/bursary at www.ru.ac.za or email Pricilla Boshoff p.a.boshoff@ru.ac.za or Lynette Steenveld l.steenveld@ru.ac.za
• Links:- www.certimedia.org, www.optimedia.org, www.eldi.org, www.zimgreats.com, www.live365.com, www.sonicbox.com, www.ohmynews.com, www.wikinews.org, www.newsassignment.net, www.blogafrica.com, www.globalvoicesonline.org,www.muti.co.za,
• More elaborate info can be found at the DCI wiki on http://dci.ru.ac.za/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
• My fav just coz it's in pictures - the photoblog of dci at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dci/