«Nous croyons à la liberté d’expression, à la protection du droit de la  parole et du droit d’écouter. Nous croyons en l’accès universel aux outils d’expression. Dans ce but, nous souhaitons permettre à tous ceux qui veulent s’exprimer — ainsi qu’à ceux qui veulent les écouter — d’en obtenir les moyens » lit-on sur le blog de Global Voices.

Cette structure est une organisation à but non lucratif de blogueurs du monde entier fondée par le Berkman Center for Internet and society de la faculté de droit de Harvard aux USA. Le Berkman Center étudie l’impact de l’Internet sur les sociétés.

Lors de la conférence de Rome sur le Web.2, Ethan Zuckerman, l’un des cofondateurs de Global Voices Online, a affirmé que son organisation a pour but d’amplifier, d’exposer le dialogue mondial sur Internet, en présentant le coté caché de l’actualité des pays et des personnes ignorés par les médias tels la radio, la télévision, la presse écrite. «Nous nous consacrons au développement d’outils, d’institutions et d’alliances, pour aider toutes les voix, où qu’elles soient, à se faire entendre », assure Zuckerman.

Pour les élections au Nigeria, au Zimbabwe, la société civile a utilisé le téléphone portable pour dénoncer le fait qu’on l’empêchait de voter. Cette situation a était relayée par les radios grâce aux appels émis. Sur les questions des droits de l’homme, en Egypte, les blogs sont des tribunes nourries par les sms et les images envoyés par les citoyens.

A une époque où les médias internationaux font l’impasse sur de nombreuses informations, Global Voices souhaite corriger l’impair de l’omission ou de l’exclusion de certaines informations en utilisant les technologies de l’information et de la communication, en faisant appel aux blogs, podcasts, photos, vidéos, wikis, tags, et messageries instantanées.

Avec ces technologies, ce sont des dizaines de millions de sources qui existent. Comment éviter d’être submergé par l’information? Comment savoir qu’une information est crédible ou pas?
Avec Global voices, une  équipe internationale de bénévoles, de blogueurs - éditeurs donnent l’information. «Nos collaborateurs sont des blogueurs qui vivent dans différents pays du monde. Ils comprennent le contexte et l’importance des informations locales, des opinions et analyses qui sont publiées chaque jour dans leur pays ou région du monde, sur les blogs, les podcasts, les sites de partage de photo et vidéos. Ils nous aident donc  à découvrir et à mettre en contexte les événements relatés par les blogueurs locaux, et qui ne sont pas couverts par les médias traditionnels », confie Zuckerman.

Global Voices s’est aussi adjoint un coordinateur des actions pour la liberté d’expression, pour aider ceux qui vivent dans des pays où les pouvoirs locaux souhaitent les empêcher de s’exprimer. Global Voices se trouve dans grande partie des pays du monde parce que les voix d’Amérique du Nord et d’Europe de l’Ouest sont déjà surreprésentées sur Internet.
Global voices privilégie les pays en voie de développement. Selon Zuckermann cette structure travaille pour construire des ponts qui relient les hommes au delà des fossés culturels et linguistiques, afin que chacun puisse mieux connaître l’autre. «Nous croyons que la discussion au delà des frontières est essentiel pour garantir à tous les citoyens de la planète un futur qui soit libre, juste, prospère et durable».
Global Voices est né au cours d’une réunion de blogueurs tenue à Harvard en décembre 2004.

Ecouter aussi le podcast, une interview de Zuckerman.
Par Ramata Soré

Interview de Pete Cranston, Consultant en TIC et Développement

« Le Web2 et les communautés de pêche » fait partie de nombreux sujets débattus lors des « Open space » de la conférence Web2fordev. Pete Cranston, l’initiateur de cette discussion se prononce dans cet entretien sur l’impact que les outils du Web participatif pourraient avoir sur les communautés de pêche en Afrique.

Vous avez réalisé pour le compte de la FAO, une étude sur l’adaptation des TIC aux besoins des communautés de pêche dans certains pays en développement. Comment s’expriment ces besoins dans les pays africains que vous avez visités ?
Globalement, je crois que les besoins des communautés de pêche ne sont pas différents de ceux des autres communautés rurales qui, en matière d’information, ont besoin de tout ce qui peut les aider à mieux rentabiliser leurs activités.

Mais au niveau de la production halieutique, les communautés de pêche ont surtout besoin de savoir là où elles peuvent trouver le poisson, comment y accéder et d’avoir les informations sur la météo. Et lorsqu’on va plus loin en parcourant toute la chaîne de la production, les pêcheurs ont aussi besoin des informations sur les marchés, les prix et quels sont les programmes mis en place par les autorités et les opportunités qui s’offrent à eux pour améliorer leurs activités. Dans la plupart des communautés que j’ai parcourues, les pêcheurs utilisent la radio, le GPS et surtout le téléphone mobile.

Un autre besoin des pêcheurs, c’est de disposer d’un lobbying local et national et avoir des moyens de communication efficaces pour poser leurs problèmes. L’étude que j’ai faite à la Fao a confirmé que la technologie la plus importante pour ces communautés, c’est la radio.

Quel peut être alors l’impact du Web2 sur les activités de ces communautés ?
De mon point de vue, il n’y a pas encore pour l’instant un besoin réel pour ces pêcheurs d’accéder directement aux outils du Web2. Le Web2 est une technologie qui s’appuie sur une large bande passante. Il faut disposer d’un bon débit pour utiliser Youtube, skype ou encore flickr. Et puis ce sont des groupes qui sont pour la plupart des analphabètes. Comme je l’ai dit tantôt, la technologie la mieux adaptée à leur condition, c’est la radio.

Par contre, c’est très important pour ces groupes d’avoir des intermédiaires comme les Ong pour les aider. Ces intermédiaires ont eux besoin des outils du Web2. C’est donc une grande responsabilité pour la Fao et les grands réseaux d’appuyer ces acteurs du développement à la base et de renforcer leur capacité en matière d’usage des outils du Web2.

Il est possible d’établir un partenariat entre les pêcheurs et les radios communautaires par exemple. Ces pêcheurs peuvent parler, utiliser les Sms pour chercher des informations sur les prix, la météo, poser des problèmes et les radios communautaires à travers le « postcasting », par exemple pourront les appuyer. A ce moment, la complémentarité entre le Web2, la radio et le mobile permet de toucher les communautés dans les coins les plus reculés.

Est-ce possible dans un avenir proche ?
Tout à fait. Des exemples existent. La vidéo, par exemple, est un outil qui peut beaucoup aider les communautés de pêcheurs. Nous avons vu au cours de la conférence, l’expérience du videoblog au Ghana, c’est très édifiant.

L’un des problèmes sérieux que les communautés de pêche de l’Afrique de l’ouest ont actuellement, c’est celui des bateaux européens qui viennent pêcher sur les eaux sans licence. Une Ong qui s’appelle « Environnement Justice Foundation » a fait une expérience intéressante avec les pêcheurs guinéens. Cette Ong a suivi ces pêcheurs et a pu filmer ces bateaux qui volent le poisson sur les eaux africaines. Elle a envoyé ensuite l’image sur youtube (youtube.com/user.environmentalJustice). Cette image a fait le tour du monde. Cette organisation a donc utilisé cette vidéo pour faire du lobbying au niveau international puisque les gouvernements africains n’ont pas les moyens de contrôler les eaux.
Il y a un musicien sénégalais qui s’appelle Didier Awadi qui a tourné un album sur les immigrés clandestins qui vont en Europe en pirogue et qui meurent sur les eaux. Parce qu’elle a été postée sur Youtube, la vidéo a été vue par des centaines de milliers de personnes. Et le monde entier a été mis au courant de cette tragédie. Moi-même, c’est un ami qui m’a envoyé le clip. C’est cela la force du Web2.

Dans l’avenir, il sera très important que les pêcheurs eux-mêmes puissent filmer ces sujets avec leur téléphone portable et les mettre les images à la disposition des Ong ou des média qui peuvent facilement utiliser le Web2.

Je crois que les outils d’avenir, ce sont ceux que même les analphabètes peuvent facilement utiliser comme la radio et la vidéo.

Propos recueillis par Gnona Afangbédji

Ethan Zuckerman gave the keynote speech on the final day of the Web2forDev conference, held at FAO in Rome, 24^th-27^th September 2007. Ethan is the co-founder of Global Voices, the world’s largest aggregator of media in the South. The Global Voices Forum brings together bloggers from around the globe.

Here are some quotes from that speech today:

Zuckerman on our new interest in old technology:

‘Email preceded the Internet… blogs are ten years old, and Wikis have been around since 1995… If most of this stuff is twenty years old, why are we talking about it now? Because it’s not about the tools, it’s about the people.’

‘The reason that it matters now is that we are experiencing a seismic shift – it’s about who can be brought together with these tools.’

Zuckerman on mobile phones:

‘When we think about participatory web, it’s not about laptops and high bandwidth… it’s about mobile phones. There are 3 billion handsets worldwide, and its estimated 80-90% of people in the developing world can access a mobile phone if they need to. This is a level of penetration of technology that changes the rules of the game. We need to broaden our thinking beyond the Web.’

‘For example, Interactive Radio for Justice gives people, particularly women, the opportunity to send questions via SMS to very powerful people. No, it’s not Flickr; no, it doesn’t have tags, but it’s back-and-forth participatory, it’s appropriate to the people it’s trying to reach.’

Zuckerman on Wikipedia:

‘Get smart about Wikipedia. It’s the ninth most popular site in the entire world. This it literally the biggest bang for the buck you can do.’

Zuckerman on why you should blog:
‘Think about who you’re trying to reach and how… if someone just signs a petition and says, “this is important to me”, it’s not enough. We’re looking for participation here… This is the reason to blog: links. Blogs are full of links and Google loves links – the more links you have, the higher up the search engine results you’ll appear. It makes sense to look at this as an eco-system approach. You have to link to figure out how to participate.’

Ismail Fourokwas one of this year Highway Africa award winner for Innovative Use of New Media. Ismail has used web 2.0 techniques on his project www.sowetouprisings.com  to map the historical 1976 Soweto uprisings activities in South Africa that led to the killing young students such as Hector Paterson. The project uses Google map and blogs to allow community and world visitors to understand the route and causes of the 1976 Soweto uprising. The aim of the project is also to allow community in Soweto to start participating by using this Web 20 enabled tools to promote and preserve this historical effort that contributed to the end of apartheid government.

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Interviewee: Ismail Farouk

Interviewer:  Chris Kgadima, Nkgowa Media

A Voices of Africa is a Web 2.0 news and information website that encourages ordinary people and professionals to use mobile phones to share video footages about news that are taking place in their own communities. They are currently piloting the project in Mozambique, Ghana and South Africa. Voices of Africa Director in South Africa explains their plans to make this as successful tool that would use web 2.0 to benefit all communities in Africa

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Interviewee:  Elles Van Gelder

Interviewer:  Chris Kgadima, Nkgowa Media

Interview with Christian Kreutz, GTZ, Web2forDev Conference, Rome 24^th February 2007.  

Monday was a preliminary workshop day, prior to the start of the main Web2forDev conference in Rome. Participants were introduced to various web-based applications that are part of the Web 2.0. One of the presentations was about blogging. 

Presenter Christian Kreutz, of GTZ in Germany, described blogging as a very powerful communication tool: blogging is ‘a two-way conversation…’ – a great way of creating ‘virtual meeting spaces’ and sharing ‘first hand experience of what is going on in the field’. But perhaps not everyone agrees. Andrew Keen once referred to the emerging Web 2.0 – and phenomena such as blogging – as the latest and greatest ‘seduction’.[1] He argues that it will drown out traditional media and the ‘authoritative voice’, plunging us into a ‘nightmare of over-abundance’ of information and authors. However, Christian argues that ‘many blogs are covering niche topics that traditional media might not otherwise cover. The traditional media already rely a lot on blogs to get information from places such as Iraq or Lebanon.’ 

Yet according to Christian, there is still a general misunderstanding of what blogging is – and what it is useful for. So I asked him, how do we – the users – know what information is accurate or important to us? And, given that anyone can blog – to give opinion, fact or perspectives – how can we know or even define what is useful and relevant?  

‘It takes time to write, time to read and time to digest blogs. But, Web 2.0 applications can also bring you to blogs – there are blogging hubs that gather information so that you can follow up on your own chosen theme… and interesting new technologies like RSS feeds mean that you can see how popular different blogs are. And out of these numbers we can see what people jump on.’ To put it simply, these RSS applications are capable of generating qualitative information and statistics, and so monitoring how popular different blogs are. And Christian’s argument is that the more people read or respond to different posts in blogs, the more ‘authoritative’ the information contained in those posts can be said to be. But is the majority voice synonymous with quality? 

Blogs are now increasingly being used by intermediate development organisations, which are using them as a strategic organisational tool to share information and knowledge. So how are these organisations accountable to the people that they are apparently representing on these blogs?  

Interestingly, Christian commented that in his opinion, blogging ‘is still completely underestimated by the development scene’. Whilst he agrees that there is a lot of information generated, which is not necessarily accurate or useful, he also argues that the essence of blogging is that it creates a two-way conversation, which in turn creates its own feedback loops. The theory is that these feedback loops circulate between people at the grassroots, intermediate development organisations, donor organisations, IFIs and policy makers. He believes that this will be profoundly important in the development sector, creating a monitoring and evaluation system which will in turn push for better practice. ‘If a project isn’t working, people will write about it from the field.’

 Web 2.0 protagonists passionately believe that applications like blogging will open up a whole new era of openness and accountability in development. These all-important feedback loops will ensure greater accountability, transparency and representation, from the grassroots to the policy makers. 

Is blogging open to abuse? ‘Yes,’ says Christian candidly. ‘But it’s an open, cultural conversation. I’m amazed how well it works in many different contexts.’ He agrees that blogging can be very political, and also very partisan. However, he also argues that it’s not all about blogging. Face-to-face meetings are still fundamentally important – and what use is your blog if no-one knows it exists? ‘Just to have a blog alone, that isn’t the thing. You have to do something more to be a network. You have to interact, to make your blog known, and to convince other organisations to join in – it’s an overlap – many things have to come together.’ 

But perhaps his main message is that it is a low-cost, easy to implement technology that gets results. There are still clear disadvantages to the South, for example with connectivity. And more time is needed to develop capacities within organisations wanting to use blogging in their communications strategies. But while there may still be challenges to overcome, Christian’s premise is that blogging really can be a form of democratised, accountable knowledge sharing – where the majority voice can also become the authoritative voice.  

A final thought: Who is participating in the creation of ‘the majority voice’? How truly participatory is Web 2.0? What participatory processes are the Web 2.0 community of practice using? Is Participatory Web for Development a reality – on the ground as well as in cyberspace? The answers will emerge over the rest of the conference…

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SANGOnet is an Information Communication Technology NGO in Southern Africa that promotes and support ICT projects in the region. They are currently setting up Citizen Journalism project with the aim of promoting the use of Web 2.0 by rural communities on issues of development. SANGOnet ICT Services Manager, Matthew de Gale explains how they are planning to make this project to provide communities with necessary skills and opportunities to utilize Web 2.0 to improve their lives.

Interviewee:Matthew de Gale ICT Services Manager SANGonet
Interviewer:Lillian Malete, Nkgowa Media

By Brenda Zulu

Africa Interactive, the publishers of Africa News www.africanews.com a world wide interactive multimedia platform focused on Africa are piloting a new project called “Voice of Africa” where journalists use mobile phones to send news video clips to report news.

Elles Van Gelder Editor in Chief of Africa News said at the Digital Citizen Indaba (DCI) in Grahamstown , South Africa last week that the project was launched by the Dutch who said Western media does not represent does not represent Africa and set up the project to show more balanced images of Africa.

She explained that sending video clips using the mobile phone was a new way of creating content. She said journalists who are part of the project are trained to become innovative reporters and how to use the cell phones.

Elles explained that they also looked at the technical side of doing the reporting and provided the journalists with small keyboards because the cell phone keys where too small to enable Journalists do their work fast.

She observed that the media focus was on Africa and that this was a revolution as these Journalists will be reporting live in events such as elections in Kenya.

Peter Verweij of the University of Utrecht Netherlands observed that mobile technology brings Journalists back to the streets meaning one does not need to get back to the newsroom to send a news report.With the GPS facility, editors in the newsrooms will also be in a position to supervise their reporters because they will be able to know where the reporters are and what they are doing.

Verweij said mobile phones will enhance journalists to report from anywhere for web pages and blogs. The content can range from text to Video and noted that for the first time anyone could be a reporter.

He also observed the challenges for
Africa as being the level of internet connectivity as the work of Journalists is set to improve dramatically with innovations in mobile GPS technology.

In the same vein, Ndesajo Macha a Sub Saharan Global Voices editor in delivering his key note address at the DCI said the future was mobile. He said text messaging has been delivering news.

He said SMS was also used for social networking as much of the news now is known through SMS before the mainstrem media makes the reports.

The coming of new technologies thus has led to fear of adapting to new ways of doing Journalism.

The future for Africa is Mobile as it has been embraced by more than 200 million people on the continent.Talking on convergence, Arrie Rossouw the editorial Director of Media 24 said there was need for people to stop talking about cries and insecurity and instead strive to move toward integrated newsrooms.

The discussion on convergence noted that in African news rooms remains largely unrecorded. Some newsrooms are marching forward, pod casting news items and music programmes and sending texts to cell phones, others are experimenting with video, sending sports clips and news to wireless services.

Matthew Buckland, the Mail and Guardian Online Manager told delegates attending the Highway Africa Conference 2007 that the Web 2.0 software was an important development for smaller role players.

Buckland noted that Media companies need to develop strategies for using the web 2.0 software for social networking and also to attract advertising.

He pointed out that the web 2.0 has played an important role in the improvement of technology and is also less expansive.

Web 2.0 is a term often applied to perceive ongoing transition of the World Wide Web from a collection of web sites to a full fledged computing platform servicing web application.

Panos, which has been working with the West African journalists for quite some time, will sponsor two journalists to cover the event for people unable to attend the conference in person. This action allows the PIWA to pursue its support to strengthen the capacities of West African journalists on ICT. It allows as well informing actors interested (journalists, actors of the civil society, stakeholders and decision-makers) in the issue how Web 2.0 could contribute to the democratization of the communication and the development in Africa.
Noel Kokou Tadégnon, a Togolese multimedia journalist, is specialised in radio and TV production and press photography. At present he is the correspondent in Togo of WREN MEDIA, Reuters Television, Deutsche Welle, and two news agencies (IPS and APANEWS). He also works regularly with photo and press agencies such as Reuters photo, Panapress, Apaphoto, and Galbe.
Ibrahima Faye is a Senegalese journalist who joined the Sud-communication press group in 2002 and specialised in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). A long attraction to this field led him to developing special skills in the challenges of NICTs for the Senegalese society and, more extensively, throughout, in order to overcome the digital divide between the urban and rural zones and, subsequently, to fight poverty and under-development. For more information about PIWA mediatic.panos-ao.org or www.haayo.org

African Journalists need to embrace the new revolution of Web 2.0 tools if they are to catch up in this globalised World. Below find an interview on Web 2.0 with Matongo Maumbi a journalist from Zambia whose blog matongo.blogspot.com

Maumbi recently attended an online training focusing on Web2.0 tools organized by PenPlusBytes, the International Institute for Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) Journalism. In 2006, PenPlusBytes launched an online course on ICT Journalism in Africa and it attracted about forty three participants from nine countries spread across Africa, Europe and Asia. You were one of these fortunate students.

Why did you want to engage in such a course? What were your needs?

Matongo: I engaged in the course because I have an interest in exploiting ICTs at personal level and also professionally. I have been working as a broadcast journalist since 2002 and I was lucky to have been exposed to the computer and internet right from the early days of my career. My ICT knowledge is driven by personal interest and enthusiasm. I needed some professional guidance on using ICTs in my career as well as how I would fully utilize them. I needed to know the pros and cons of using ICTs . The limits, the potential benefits the fun of using the internet and how to explore it better.

What did you learn? What did you prefer (e.g.,. learning about new tools, engaging with other journalists, sharing your ideas and knowledge with others, working together on a common article, networking and interacting…)?

Matongo: I leant quite a number of things. I initially only took blogging as an adventure. Writing whatever came to my mind without any real set objective or target. I guess this was because I did it just out of interest and curiosity. I learnt how to conduct better online research for background information. How to source documents, how to set good parameters for searching. My knowledge on Web 2.0 was improved. Blogging is a good place to express oneself freely without the censorship of your editor or superiors on your work.

How does, what your learnt, influence your current journalism practice? How did it modify your way of working? How did it nurture your work (if so)? How do you apply what you learnt?

Matongo: I preferred learning new tools and also interacting with other journalists from across the continent and globe. As curiosity satisfaction was among my needs, I was really looking forward to learning new tools on ICTs. My mind was more set on learning new tools from what I already taught myself. I guess from the many things I learnt, I now spend less time on the internet. I spend less time because I know better how to conduct my online research with in the shortest possible time but with maximum information. As I am now working better with internet, it has encouraged me to continue getting a local touch to what I read on the internet. During the course I found my self working on fewer but better researched programmes that are of great relevance to our catchments community.

You created your own blog. How do you use this blog? What is the main purpose (PR, information sharing, interacting….?). Did you reach your goal? What are the strength and the weakness of such an exercise?

Matongo: Initially had a website aimed at doing radical campaigns online on things that affect Zambia. Time and resources could not allow me to continue and my site died out. Then I though of creating blog with a similar aim. I basically transferred what my site to the blog. I use the blog to make and achieve my thoughts online. As my blog is more of expressing my self, I have not yet set a good objective. In a small way I have reached my goal of transferring my thoughts online. The greatest strength is that you are your own editor and can write anything you fell is morally right at your own pace and space. You get unlimited freedom besides that fact that you have sensitive stories. Weakness comes in as most of the time I only write about my thoughts without backup professional thoughts. This creates a sense of non credibility from readers. Updates are seldom coming on the blog as I use company equipment and internet to do the updates.

What are the main challenges for African journalists to use Web2.0 tools? Do you think that most journalists have already a “mindset” for Web2 tools? What would the African Media community gain by using Web2.0?

Matongo: The main challenges of African journalists using web 2.0 tools is that we do not have our own working space. We have to rely on computers and internet from our offices. How on earth could one fully use web 2.0 tools when one does not have their own resources? The mindset for most journalists is there but a mindset with out resources is meaningless. Internet connection and access is very expensive for most journalists and even when it is affordable it is very slow. There is plenty to gain such as information sharing, unlimited power to express oneself (group) without the trouble of going through the censoring editors and managers.

Do you think that web2.0 applications - if well used by African journalists - can make the Internet more “relevant”? How so?

Matongo: I think Web 2.0 tools if properly used can make it more relevant. There is a lot of information that African Journalists have but because they have to go through editors, such info is suppressed. Mostly it is as a result of editors, managers not appreciating the role of ICTS tools.

Have you advertised your blog. If yes to whom and how?

Matongo: I think my blog is an isolated one. I have not advertised it. The only people that know about are my friends. I never thought of advertising it mainly because I think I do not update it regularly.

Are you making money from your blog?

Matongo: I am not in any way making money from my blog . I still do not fully know how I can tap into that potential. I do not really see how I can make money. I guess this is something I have to learn next. I know I have what it takes; I just do not have the right guidance.

Have you taught other about blogging?

Matongo: I have not taught any of my close friends’ blogging and taking full advantage of the internet besides e-mail messaging. Training for African Journalists in necessary on new web tools because these are new things which are not taught in Journalism. It is also important to note that a blog helps to store content online for African Journalists which has been for a long time been stored in paper form. The content put on a blog is shared and people learn from that kind of content.

In May, CTA launched a call for candidates to African journalists who were interested in participating in the conference Web2forDev 2007. The idea was to finance the participation of three journalists from ACP countries who would ensure the media coverage of the conference. The following three journalists have been selected: Ramata Soré (Burkina Faso), Brenda Zulu (Zambia) and Gnona Afangbedji (Benin). They will play a pivotal role in daily media coverage by writing background articles on Web2.0, interviews especially of participants who bring innovative projects, technical articles on applications and their impact on the rural communities. All this information, numerous photos and interviews by FAO’s Lilian Kambirigi, and probably video sessions of the main presentations from the plenary sessions will allow interested people who cannot attend in person to receive direct coverage of the discussions. All this material will be published on the conference blog and web site. This, we hope, will allow the “virtual” participants to contribute to the discussions through the Web2.0 facilities (wiki and blog).

Durant le mois de Mai, le CTA a lancé un appel à candidature destiné aux journalistes africains désirant participer à la conférence Web2forDev 2007. L’idée de cet appel était de financer 3 journalistes venant d’un pays ACP pour assurer la couverture médiatique de la conférence. A l’issue de la sélection, 3 journalistes ont été retenus : Ramata Soré (Burkina Faso), Brenda Zulu (Zambie) et Gnona Afangbedji (Bénin). Ces trois journalistes vont être les pivots de la couverture médiatique quotidienne de la conférence en réalisant des articles de fond sur le Web2.0, des interviews des participants et notamment des porteurs de projets innovants, des encadrés plus techniques sur les applications et leur impact au sein des communautés rurales. Toutes ces informations complétées par de nombreuses photos, des interviews audio réalisées par Lilian Kambirigi de la FAO et sans doute des sessions vidéos retraçant les grandes présentations en plénière permettront à tous ceux qui ne pourront pas assister physiquement à la conférence de suivre en direct les débats. Tout ce matériel sera posté sur le blog de la conférence et sur son site web. Nous espérons aussi que les participants « virtuels » contribuent aux discussions par les facilités web2.0 (wiki et blog). Découvrez dès maintenant le profil de notre équipe de journalistes!

Brenda Zulu

I am a Freelance journalist based in Zambia. I am a correspondent for Highway Africa News Agency and a member of International editorial teams e.g. European and North American Women in Action (ENAWA), The African Flame Newspaper, Genderit.org and the Feminist Dialogue media team.

I started work in 1990 as a trainee reporter at the Daily Express where I worked for 5 years. In 1998 I was a correspondent for the Times of Zambia for two years. I also worked for the Today Newspaper for one and a half years as a reporter and then decided to be a Correspondent for the Africawoman Newspaper a newspaper which is both a print and an online copy. Currently I am a columnist for Technology Times Newspaper based in Nigeria for a column known as “Let’s Click with Brenda Zulu” where I basically talk about gender and ICT issues in Africa.

I am a triple award winner in reporting on Information Communciation Technology (ICTs) for development and also covering social issues. I studied journalism at Evelyn Hone College in Zambia and have also been trained in reporting on ICTs by Rhodes University in South Africa.

Gnona Afangbedji

Gnona Afangbedji est journaliste économique au Bénin et s’investit dans les questions liées à la collecte et au traitement des informations sur les progrès dans les TIC.
Il est titulaire d’un Certificat de Maîtrise en Histoire, obtenu en 2001 à l’Université Nationale du Bénin et bénéficiaire de plusieurs formations sur les techniques de journalisme en presse écrite, le journalisme d’investigation, le traitement des informations économiques et agricoles ainsi que les enjeux des TIC pour les médias africains. Il a fait ses premières armes en journalisme en 2000, avec le journal “le Progrès”, dans lequel il a eu à effectuer un stage de six mois avant d’y être confirmé en novembre 2000 comme journaliste titulaire. Après avoir passé deux années dans ce quotidien béninois où il avait un statut de reporters, il a contribué avec un groupe de journalistes dissidents du Progrès à la création du Journal “L’Evénement du Jour”. A l’Evénement du Jour, il a occupé le poste de Chef du service Economie jusqu’en juin 2004, date à laquelle il a intégré le Journal “L’Autre Quotidien” dont il anime la page Economie jusqu’à ce jour.

Gnona Afangbedji is an economics journalist in Benin who has a special interest the effects of information collection and processing on progress in ICTs.
In 2001 he completed part of his masters degree in history at the Université Nationale du Bénin and attended several training sessions on the techniques of journalism for the written press, investigative journalism, processing economic and agricultural information, and the challenges of ICT for the African media.
He started working in journalism as a trainee at Le Progrès. Six months later, in November 2000, the newspaper hired him as a fulltime journalist.
He worked as a reporter for this Benin daily for two years and then, with a group of dissident colleagues, helped create the newspaper L’Événement du Jour” where he worked as Head of the Economics Service until June 2004 when he joined the staff of the L’Autre Quotidien newspaper where he still works as head of the page on economics.

Ramata Soré

Je m’appelle Ramata Soré. Je suis journaliste burkinabè résidant et travaillant au Burkina Faso. Je suis titulaire d’un DESS en Sciences de l’environnement obtenu à l’Université de Ouagadougou en 2002. En 2001, j’ai obtenu ma maîtrise en Sciences et Techniques de l’information et de la communication toujours à l’Université de Ouagadougou. En cette même année, j’ai fait une spécialisation en multimédia à l’Université de Ouagadougou. D’où mon intérêt pour les technologies de l’information et de la communication. Dans ce domaine, je suis membre de l’association Yam Pukri, de Burkina NTIC, de APC for women. Toutes ces structures œuvrent pour l’appréhension des technologies nouvelles par les Africains. J’ai suivi au mois de mars 2007 avec Canal France international une formation en Web2.0.
Mon intérêt pour les TIC, j’essaie de le communiquer aux autres journalistes. Aussi, au mois de juin dernier j’ai formé une dizaine de journalistes au Web2.0.
J’ai obtenu des prix concernant divers sujets ayant trait aux technologies. J’anime périodiquement une page sur cette question dans mon journal L’Evénement. Je dispose d’un blog personnel : ramses1.blog4ever.com

My name is Ramata Soré. I am a Burkinabe journalist, who lives and works in Burkina Faso. In 2001 I got a masters in information and communication sciences and techniques at the University of Ouagadougou where I continued studying and, in 2002, completed a DESS in environmental sciences and specialised in multimedia. This explains my interest in ICTs and the reason I joined Yam Pukri, a Burkina NICT Association, and APC-Women (Association for Progressive Communications). All these organisations strive to help Africans understand the new technologies. In March 2007 I attended a training session on Web2.0 offered by Canal France International.
I try to convey my interest in ICTs to other journalists; last June, for instance, I taught Web2.0 to some ten journalists.
I have received awards in various subjects related to these technologies, and edit a page on this issue periodically in my journal called L’Événement. I have a personal blog: ramses1.blog4ever.com

Ibrahima Faye

Ibrahima Faye est un journaliste professionnel qui totalise 7 années d’expérience dans le paysage médiatique Sénégalais. Après avoir occupé le poste de coordonnateur du service «Société» du journal la «Pointe» de la presse des Almadies (Predal) en mars 2002, il a, après la fermeture de ce groupe de presse, rejoint Sud communication. Ibrahima Faye s’est très vite spécialisé dans le domaine des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC) qui l’ont toujours passionné. Il a ainsi eu à faire plusieurs articles et dossiers dans ce secteur qui constitue un enjeu de développement certain. Il a également pris part à plusieurs ateliers de formation sur les TIC aussi bien dans son pays qu’à l’étranger. Des sessions qui lui ont permis d’être bien outillé dans le domaine des blogs, de la presse en ligne et de son économie et surtout des enjeux des NTIC dans la société sénégalaise et africaine plus globalement. Une expertise qu’il compte ainsi mettre en pratique dans la lutte contre la fracture numérique entre les zones urbaines et rurales, par ricochet contre la pauvreté et le sous-développement.

Ibrahima Faye is a professional journalist who adds up 7 years of experience in the Senegalese media landscape. Having occupied coordinator’s post of the service “Society” of the newspaper “La Pointe” of the press of Almadies (Predal) in March, 2002, he joined, after the closure(lock) of this publishing conglomerate, Sud communication. Ibrahima Faye very fast specialized in the field of Information technologies and Communication (ICT) which always fascinated him. He had to make several articles and files in this sector which constitutes a stake in development. He also took part in several workshops of training on ICT as well in his country as abroad. Sessions which allowed him to be equipped well in the field of blogs, of on-line press and of its economy and especially stakes in the ICT in the Senegalese and African societies more globally. An expertise which he plans to put into practices so in the wrestling against the digital fracture between the urban and rural zones, on the rebound against the poverty and the underdevelopment.

Noel Kokou Tadégnon

Je suis Noel Kokou Tadégnon, journaliste multimédia Togolais. Je suis journaliste depuis 14 ans. J’ai appris le métier sur le tas avec au début des collaborations avec des organes de la presse écrite et surtout la radio. Mais très vite, je me suis rendu compte que j’étais à l’aise dans presque tous les secteurs médiatiques. Ce qui m’a poussé à faire en plus de la radio, la production télévisée et la photographie de presse. Après avoir travaillé pour plusieurs radios, je suis actuellement le correspondant de WREN MEDIA au Togo, de Reuters Télévision, de la Deutsche Welle, des agences IPS et APANEWS. Je collabore aussi souvent avec des agences photos et des journaux comme Reuters photo, Panapress, Apaphoto, Galbe.
Très à l’aise dans les productions radiophoniques, télévisuelles, photographiques et écrites, je suis un habitué de la couverture multimédia des grands événements. J’ai travaillé avec une équipe de l’Institut Panos Afrique de l’ouest au Sommet Mondial de la société de l’information à Tunis en 2005. L’expérience a été rééditée à Saly au Sénégal lors d’un atelier sur la fibre optique SAT3 ; et récemment au Forum social mondial de Nairobi au Kenya. En plus de mon expérience sur le plan journalistique, j’ai une grande maîtrise des TIC. C’est ainsi que j’ai créé et je gère depuis 2000 le portail de la presse togolaise www.mediatogo.info , un projet soutenu par l’Institut Panos Afrique de l’ouest.

I am Noel Kokou Tadégnon, Togolese multimedia journalist. I am a journalist for 14 years. I learnt the profession on the heap with at the beginning of collaborations with organs of the print media and especially radio. But very fast, I realized that I felt at ease in almost all the media sectors. What urged me to make besides the radio, the broadcast production and the photography of press. Having worked for several radios, I am at present the correspondent of WREN MEDIA in Togo, Reuters Television, of Deutsche Welle, IPS and APANEWS agencies. I collaborate so often with agencies photos and newspapers as Reuters photo, Panapress, Apaphoto, Galbe. Very comfortable in the radio, television, photographic and written productions, I am used by the multimedia cover of big events. I worked with a team of the Panos West Africa Institute on the World Summit of the information society in Tunis in 2005. The experience was republished to Saly in Senegal during a workshop on the optical fibre SAT3; and recently in the world social Forum of Nairobi in Kenya. Besides my experience on the journalistic plan, I have a big control of the ICT. And so I created and I manage since 2000 the portal of the Togolese press www.mediatogo.info, a project supported by the Panos West Africa Institute.

The latest ICT-Update from CTA has an interesting feature about podcasting in Africa. One article deals about Pambazuka News and their experiences of podcasting. Besides the potentials…

Podcasting has the potential to enable activists and ordinary citizens engaged in the struggle for social justice, to plan, produce and edit their own ‘broadcasts’ without an interpretive or interfering intermediary, as happens so often in the mainstream media (whether written or broadcast). Given such developments, we felt it was important to encourage and support others in Africa who might either be using, or wanting to use new media, to make their voices heard.

it also describes the challenges to produce and broadcast podcasts in Africa.

When we started, we naively thought that all we needed to do was to have someone read out some of the excellent articles published in Pambazuka News. We published a couple of podcasts of this kind, but the results were lacklustre. It was clear that what is produced for one medium (the written word) cannot be translated into another medium. The requirements of each medium are radically different.

Link to the whole article
Another article is titled: “Extending networks with podcasting in the Caribbean”
Pambazuka’s podcasts