11 December 2003
Launch of African Media and ICT4D : Documentary evidence
Launch of African
Media and ICT4D : Documentary evidence
A baseline study on the state of media reporting on ICT and information
society issues in Africa
By Nizar Bahoul,
Geneva, December 11th, 2003
A Study commissioned by the Economic Commission for Africa with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) was launched on Thursday December 11th, 2003 during a press conference held at the Palexpo ICT4D Platform during the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, December 2003.
The press conference panel comprised Ms Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of Development Information Service Division (DISD/ECA), Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah, Team Leader, (DISD/ECA), Ms Kakuna Kerina, Executive Director, OSIWA, and Mr. Roland Stanbridge, Director of the MA in Global Journalism, Orebro University, Sweden. Mr. Stanbridge conducted and co-authored the study with his research assistant, Ms Maria Ljunggren. Over forty journalists and Media institutions from various continents attended the launching ceremony.
The Study involved eighteen journalists and media researchers from print, online, radio and television outfits in the nine African countries surveyed. They monitored ICT and Information Society reporting based on specific methodology in Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal.
As stated by Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane during her opening speech, “this report is the result of the work of those who accepted to conduct daily media monitoring. The study emphasizes on questions related to Media and ICTs and allows them to go into the depths of the issues of the information society. She added that the study does not attempt to provide answers to the issues, but has started a process of reflection.
In addition, Ms Ben Soltane also pointed out that ECA is supporting journalists in other ways such as through the AISI Media Awards programme to strengthen ICT reporting and analysis. These awards, which started in May 2003 are supported by OSISA, OSIWA, IDRC, IICD and GKP. As part of capacity building of media practitioners, ECA also sponsored journalists to attend WSIS to cover issues from an African perspective.
OSIWA’s Kakuna Kerina invited journalists and media researchers to use the outcomes of the study to pay more attention to the key training issues arising from the difficulties reporting on ICTs and the information society.
Mr Roland Standbrige gave details of the methodology for the study during the two months and the reasons for selecting the 9 countries. In the discussions that followed, questions ranged from the methodology of the report to the bottlenecks of connectivity and access.
Ms Aida Opoku-Mensah provided additional details of the Study and made an overview of the main findings, noting the lack of specialised journalism in Africa on ICT issues. “The main objective of the study is to stimulate debate and find the right questions from the media which has to recognise their role in the information society”, she concluded. She also thanked all the journalists and media researchers who contributed to the study.
Information:
aisi@uneca.org
© Copyright ECA 2003