Kwami Ahiabenu II, Dakar Media 2007

Slide 1: Kwami Ahiabenu,II President International Institute for ICT Journalism(penplusbytes) kwami@penplusbyte.org www.knowledgechief.blogspot.com

Slide 2: LOCAL CONTENT Blogs present to us a quick easy inexpensive means of populating the internet with local content

Slide 3: In this presentation • Introduction – Impact of ICT on the media/New media /web 2.0 What is blogging/ why blog /Types of blogs • Content • J blogs landscape in West Africa • Future of j blogs in West Africa • Challenges • Recommendation • Conclusion •

Slide 4: Introduction • ICT and the media are in a perfect marriage ? • The landscape of the media is rapidly changing due to ICT • online edition of the Wall Street Journal.com is more profitable than the print version http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a4349.asp • New Media is now the norm • Web 2.0/social networking is making this field more interesting • One of the exciting tools of Web 2.0 is blogging • Citizen blogger vrs Journalist blogger

Slide 5: What is blogging and why blog • Technical definition –The term blog is a blend of the terms web and log, leading to web log, weblog, and finally blog. Empowerment • Dialogue -Conversation • Democracy/ democratization of content • Good governance – informed citizenry • Innovation and Creativity • Quality of journalism •

Slide 6: Why blog • New trends in journalism/experimentation • Enormous efficiencies of online content delivery • Blog to create buzz about online content • Niche publishing • Relative Unlimited space • A perfect tool for breaking news • Putting a face to content/interactivity

Slide 7: Types of Blog  Content – archeology to zoology  Mode of content delivery - video/photo/micro/mobile blogs/talking blogs  Authoring – single vrs collaborative blogging/anonymous  Communities - Directory –connects bloggers

Slide 8: Blog content  Text vrs multimedia  User generated content/community-created content.  Aggregation service  Links  Labels  Comments

Slide 9: Characteristics of blog Content  Very good postings – original and created for blogs (writing for blogs is different) Advocacy content is limited  Opinions  Shoveling traditional content – edit it to make it look  “digital” Dumping grounds for copy do not get published 

Slide 10: J Blogs Landscape in West Africa  Individual journalist blogs top the list  Media houses blogs are difficult to find  Some do not have website as well ironically blogs can give them quick inexpensive to publish their content online  No J blogs association/movement  Blogging equals Journalism? Debate is not hot yet

Slide 11: J Blogs Landscape in West Africa  A search on the Internet does not bring a lot of journalist blog up  Nigeria – can said to have the highest number of bloggers in the region  Places to find some of these blogs – penplusbytes, global voices, blog africa, afromix, Afrigator etc

Slide 12: Challenges  Lack of Internet connectivity  High cost of Access  Lack of updates for existing blogs  Low skills set and access to training  Lack of newsroom policy for usage  Absent of blogging culture and movement  Perceived threat of blogs

Slide 13: Future of j blogs in west Africa  Word is spreading round – ultimately increase in the quality and quantity of blogs  Revenue stream will be develop from blogging  Journalism schools are going to integrate blogging  We are going to record more Issues in the area of blogging policy, ethics, regulation and law.

Slide 14: Recommendation • Increase the number of j bloggers via training and media houses blogging as well Urgent need to aggregate j blogs in West • Africa(“None of my clients want weblogs anymore, they all want aggregators.”) Ethics' and guidelines for j bloggers • Special events blogging – elections etc • Stimulating – regular posting via Awards • Forming a network of journalists interested in • blogging eg http://www.mediabloggers.org/

Slide 15: Conclusion  Any journalist and media house worth his salt should take blogging seriously. This they can do by understanding the technology, its implications, challenges, develop strategies derive maximum benefits from blogging and more importantly invest time and resources in order to use it to improve the level of journalism in West Africa while increasing local content on the Internet.

Slide 16: Thank You Kwami Ahiabenu,II kwami@penplusbytes.net www.penplusbytes.net www.penplusbytes.blogspot.com