As I think about the points I’d like to make at the Policy Making in the Digital Age conference this Saturday, and the “Policy Schools and the New Media Debate” panel I’m moderating, I can’t help but stop and wonder, “How DO we make policy in the digital age?” I am someone who looks deep into these issues every single day, and from what I see each day, and have watched happen over the past few years of this digital age, I can only think that there may be no hardened answer to this question but, “With great flexibility and a watchful eye.” [click to continue…]
by bencolmery4 on January 4, 2010
in Advocacy & Activism,Bangladesh,Cote d'Ivoire,Egypt,Ghana,Iran,Kenya,Management,Mozambique,Nigeria,Social Media,Training & Education,Uganda,Web & Internet,Zambia,Zimbabwe
2009 was a banner year for me in terms of media development. It was not by any means my starting point in media, but it could go down as year in which my work achieved lift off. But all was done in the name of helping people spread information, express themselves, and/or strengthen their networks with other people to promote change. So, I thought I’d take a look back at my year in media development, get it all together in one place, take stock, establish something to compare 2010 to, reminisce a little.
Researching Extractive Industry Transparency and Journalism Development in Africa
I began the year leading a team through a study to assess needs and effective training practices to raise the level of business journalism in Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. Our findings would then be synthesized into a report to provide training and media development recommendations to Revenue Watch Institute, which wanted to use training to improve business journalism, and promote extractive industry transparency. The best part of this project was that I got to spend two weeks in January in balmy Nigeria–a country the Bradt guide calls “Africa for the Advanced”–and meet face to face with Nigerian journalists, journalism educators, and media development experts. Lagos, in particular, was INTENSE. And fantastic. I also got a chance in this to bone up on my skills developing surveys and interview guides, building networks of contacts, designing a team research wiki, and producing a report of findings. [click to continue…]
New media, especially social media, are playing a significant role in driving change and challenging authority in the Middle East. This is particularly true in Iran, where Internet access has exploded, growing faster than any other Middle Eastern country, according to Reporters Without Borders.
“From 2000 to 2007”, reported Sepideh Parsa, “the number of users grew from 250,000 to 18 million, which accounts for 53.7% of users in the region”. Within this explosion has been a rise of blogging in Iran–with the blogosphere becoming such a phenomenon as to warrant its current nickname, “Weblogistan”–that is subsequently having political ramifications for the Iranian State.
“Blogs have become an essential medium for dissidence against the autocratic regime and its state-controlled media”, said Parsa. “Iran has one of the strictest censorship policies in the Middle East. Thus, blogs offer Iranians the only platform to peacefully exchange their political thought, emotions, and opinions while overcoming the boundaries that have been imposed by the government”.
[click to continue…]
As I think about the points I’d like to make at the Policy Making in the Digital Age conference this Saturday, and the “Policy Schools and the New Media Debate” panel I’m moderating, I can’t help but stop and wonder, “How DO we make policy in the digital age?” I am someone who looks deep into these issues every single day, and from what I see each day, and have watched happen over the past few years of this digital age, I can only think that there may be no hardened answer to this question but, “With great flexibility and a watchful eye.” [click to continue…]