I found the post ‘Pack like it's Arizona’ thanks to a notice by Africommons blog. It’s an account of his recent trip to Botswana by Major Steven Lamb, the acting Social Media Chief for U.S. Africa Command and it's really interesting:
• First para spent on why he doesn’t do Facebook, Twitter etc. That’s all very well, but social media are not just about one’s own private life (which he’s of course perfectly entitled to keep private, if he so wishes), but also about professional communications with an organisation’s target audience. Since he’s the acting Social Media Chief, I think it’s time to hand that position over to someone who has some sort of grasp what social media are.
• His first trip to Africa? Interesting hiring practice at Africom. Regional experience not a must?
• Six weeks are not much time to plan. Possibly not for the amount of work that Africom expected from him, I wouldn’t know. But not enough time to get a visa for Namibia? Huh??
• And back to the social media thing, digital media aren’t his forte either, I guess: He concludes his blog post with: ‘On the personal side, I learned the value of doing a bit more research on my target location and also the benefits of being prepared for whatever changes might occur.’ Google could have probably told him about weather, internet access and such basics in 10min.
Lovely, lovely. I feel much better about Africom now. With an approach like that, you don’t really have to go as far as worrying about any underlying evil of Africom. Generalised cluelessness will be your primary concern.
20 April 2010
Angelina Jolie to protect civilians through use of digital communications
From some past inquiries, I’m still on the UNHCR mailing list and occasionally get their mailings on Somalia. They usually involve five-digit figures of refugees fleeing the fighting in Mogadishu and elsewhere. This is sad. And sadly, this is also effectively routine. The fighting in Somalia has been going on for two decades and for a number of reasons that turn this into a complex and incredibly difficult to resolve conflict.
Since I write mostly about economic and business issues, I typically click these alerts away. However, yesterday I read on for a change when I received an email titled ‘Angelina Jolie appeals for safety of civilians in Somali capital’. According to this press release, Angelina Jolie 'expressed her concern for the lives and the well-being of thousands of displaced people who are trapped in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.’ The text goes on to state: ‘I am deeply troubled by the complete and utter disregard for human life in Somalia. ... I fear for their lives. I appeal to those who carry on fighting not to shell and target civilian neighbourhoods.’
That is very kind of Ms Jolie. A tad late maybe since this has happened to civilians for two decades. Never mind. Don't knock good intentions. But I hope that UNHCR have the Al Shabaab and assorted other fighting parties on their mailing list, too.
I ran this past my focus group (i.e. Facebook friends). Several people recommended shipping her and assorted supporters off to Mogadishu for an on-site event. Internet connections are of course available in Mogadishu, but this would certainly get around the question of whether the fighting parties are included in UNHCR’s mailing list. As Mr G said: ‘And she's supposed to be one of the more intelligent Hollywood stars. I feel genuinely sorry for the truly thick ones.’ Maybe if George Clooney also chipped in?
Since I write mostly about economic and business issues, I typically click these alerts away. However, yesterday I read on for a change when I received an email titled ‘Angelina Jolie appeals for safety of civilians in Somali capital’. According to this press release, Angelina Jolie 'expressed her concern for the lives and the well-being of thousands of displaced people who are trapped in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu.’ The text goes on to state: ‘I am deeply troubled by the complete and utter disregard for human life in Somalia. ... I fear for their lives. I appeal to those who carry on fighting not to shell and target civilian neighbourhoods.’
That is very kind of Ms Jolie. A tad late maybe since this has happened to civilians for two decades. Never mind. Don't knock good intentions. But I hope that UNHCR have the Al Shabaab and assorted other fighting parties on their mailing list, too.
I ran this past my focus group (i.e. Facebook friends). Several people recommended shipping her and assorted supporters off to Mogadishu for an on-site event. Internet connections are of course available in Mogadishu, but this would certainly get around the question of whether the fighting parties are included in UNHCR’s mailing list. As Mr G said: ‘And she's supposed to be one of the more intelligent Hollywood stars. I feel genuinely sorry for the truly thick ones.’ Maybe if George Clooney also chipped in?
22 March 2010
Nation Media Group's Pan African Media Conference – Day II
I wasn’t so impressed with the first day of the Nation Media Group's big 'Pan-African Media Conference' – too many presidents, and too little that actually had something to do with the media. Had they just called it the 50th anniversary celebrations, it would have worked better.
The second day was more interesting. Unfortunately, in the morning, several sessions ran in parallel, and I heard that the session on new media was hopelessly crowded – not giving this subject its own plenary session was clearly an oversight.
I walked in later in the morning, at the tail end of a discussion on languages – preserving local languages (or rather 'rocar ranguages', as it came out) in media, or trying to get everyone really proficient in one? One panellist made the argument that in order to compete successfully on a global scale, proficiency in English is necessary: 'New forms of technology create an illiteracy of their own'. I sympathise with that.
Then, just before the break, a truly acrobatic feat: Uganda's Minister for Information and National Guidance, Kabakumba Labwoni Masiko, was asked a question about Ugana's proposed media regulations: jail terms of up to two years for journalists who commit 'economic sabotage', the expansion of the media council to give more control to the ministry, the licensing of print media, and other restrictions on the media in Uganda. Moderator Sibi Okumu nearly bent over backwards to assure the minister that no, heavens forbid, she wouldn't have to answer this question if she didn't want to since it was not the session's topic ('We could spend an eternity on what doesn't work', he said. Well, why don't we?). Thanks to that, she was able to react with a very cursory reply on the Ugandan government's commitment to press freedom and that the Ugandan media were 'stakeholders in development' – never a confidence-inspiring statement.
Conferences always have their own dynamics: On day one, the red-carpet session, the big names, the dull speeches. Everyone turns up for that, even though protocol and security are a nightmare. By day two of the NMG conference, many people – and certainly the eminent ones and their hangers-on – had gone home. The rest were snoozy after lunch, and later hot and dehydrated and the last two sessions ran without a break. A pity, because the topics were interesting, and very relevant to the media industry: Reporting in a crisis, with an interesting keynote from Joe Odindo, and media freedom. I thought the latter was particularly interesting and should have been given a lot more, and a lot more technical space: Kenya is now moving to restrict the broadcast media through regulations that will do little to improve quality, but much to fragment the industry and make it less viable. Quite in contrast to official statements, Uganda is doing the same in print media, and the raid on the Kenyan Standard shows that irrespective of what regulations say, there's still always that old-school approach.
Trevor Ncube commented that after a period of liberalisation, the media space has been contracting again in recent years. Especially the regulatory angle to media freedom would have been worth pursuing in more detail, I think, not the least because there are legitimate concerns over media ethics and quality.
Conference report, speeches etc here.
The second day was more interesting. Unfortunately, in the morning, several sessions ran in parallel, and I heard that the session on new media was hopelessly crowded – not giving this subject its own plenary session was clearly an oversight.
I walked in later in the morning, at the tail end of a discussion on languages – preserving local languages (or rather 'rocar ranguages', as it came out) in media, or trying to get everyone really proficient in one? One panellist made the argument that in order to compete successfully on a global scale, proficiency in English is necessary: 'New forms of technology create an illiteracy of their own'. I sympathise with that.
Then, just before the break, a truly acrobatic feat: Uganda's Minister for Information and National Guidance, Kabakumba Labwoni Masiko, was asked a question about Ugana's proposed media regulations: jail terms of up to two years for journalists who commit 'economic sabotage', the expansion of the media council to give more control to the ministry, the licensing of print media, and other restrictions on the media in Uganda. Moderator Sibi Okumu nearly bent over backwards to assure the minister that no, heavens forbid, she wouldn't have to answer this question if she didn't want to since it was not the session's topic ('We could spend an eternity on what doesn't work', he said. Well, why don't we?). Thanks to that, she was able to react with a very cursory reply on the Ugandan government's commitment to press freedom and that the Ugandan media were 'stakeholders in development' – never a confidence-inspiring statement.
Conferences always have their own dynamics: On day one, the red-carpet session, the big names, the dull speeches. Everyone turns up for that, even though protocol and security are a nightmare. By day two of the NMG conference, many people – and certainly the eminent ones and their hangers-on – had gone home. The rest were snoozy after lunch, and later hot and dehydrated and the last two sessions ran without a break. A pity, because the topics were interesting, and very relevant to the media industry: Reporting in a crisis, with an interesting keynote from Joe Odindo, and media freedom. I thought the latter was particularly interesting and should have been given a lot more, and a lot more technical space: Kenya is now moving to restrict the broadcast media through regulations that will do little to improve quality, but much to fragment the industry and make it less viable. Quite in contrast to official statements, Uganda is doing the same in print media, and the raid on the Kenyan Standard shows that irrespective of what regulations say, there's still always that old-school approach.
Trevor Ncube commented that after a period of liberalisation, the media space has been contracting again in recent years. Especially the regulatory angle to media freedom would have been worth pursuing in more detail, I think, not the least because there are legitimate concerns over media ethics and quality.
Conference report, speeches etc here.
23 October 2009
What a pants idea! or: The no-knickers emergency
At first I thought it was spoof when I stumbled over the ‘Underwear for Africa’ initiative on Facebook. I had a closer look and realized that no, this was serious: a group of US Americans were trying to collect 1,000 undies for boys and girls (mercifully, they were looking for newly purchased knickers and not mitumba) by mid-December to distribute in a refugee camp in Kenya. Still, I was dumbstruck: Now why on earth would you want to drag a suitcase full of knickers to Africa? I’m quite used to all sorts of foreigners wanting to Do Something About Africa, but this must have been amongst the more ludicrous suggestions, alongside a shipment of teddy bears for Uganda organized by a Canadian teenage beauty queen that I had recently spotted (note to self: must pay more attention to teddy bear shortages in Uganda). Is this what Kenya has been reduced to – a no-knickers emergency?
I reposted the ‘Underwear for Africa’ initiative on my own Facebook page. The replies from my friends both Kenyan and non-Kenyan mirrored mine: ‘What the (expletive)’ and ‘I am now gobsmacked and slack-jawed at the same time‘. ‘I thought that’s a joke’ featured a few times. Also: ‘quite contemptuous … self-righteous and self-gratifying’. I found their efforts somewhere between incredibly patronizing and just silly. But I bit my tongue and wrote a tame comment on the group’s page: First, that there are a great many perfectly good shops in Kenya that sell underwear of all sorts, so why don’t they send over the money and buy the knickers here – assuming that the lack of underwear is really the issue? Save on transport and put some much-needed money into the Kenyan economy. And secondly, that ‘Africa’ was a continent with 50+ states.
I got some very friendly replies back from Rocky, who set up this campaign, and her husband Jeff. They admitted that I had a point, but, according to Jeff: ‘Obviously it would be better for the economy in Kenya if the purchases were made in Kenya ….However, the eighth grade girl who held the UFA drive may not have been inspired by collecting money. In fact, I'm quite sure she would not have been.’ Rocky added: ‘The reason why we decided to collect here and bring them over ourselves is simple. We are engaging others to be part of the process. You loose that when you simply ask for US$2 to buy underwear. The stories I hear from both adults and children alike when they empty the underwear racks, or PTA members excited to get the children involved in school projects such as this are amazing. People want to get involved. People want to become part of the process. People want to see, feel and be engaged in the bigger picture.’
The replies were, I found, very self centred: It had little to do with working out what really makes sense, and helping in the most efficient way possible. It was, in the end, all about feelings. Their feelings, their kids’ feelings. Is it really beyond a kid’s grasp to understand why a pocket money donation would make more sense than an underwear purchase in the US? It’s good to teach children to help others and get involved directly in the community, but that was just what irritated me: For the kids’ educational experience, why don’t they do something in their own local community? If they really want to help out in Kenya, it’s fantastically inefficient if people from literally the other side of the globe do this profusion of little-little projects here. Hook up with someone who already tries to work out how to keep Kenyan girls in school by helping them with both underwear and sanitary pads. There are so many initiatives by people who live and work here and not only give back to the community, but also do this is in a far more sensible way because they understand the place.
I’m sure the pants people have good intentions. But do good intentions give you license to do just anything? It bugs me that ‘Africa’ – because it’s always that amorphous big entity ‘Africa’, not one particular corner of this vast, diverse continent - has become a charity playground for half of the world to feel good about themselves. Knickers for Africa, actresses pronouncing on the civil war in DR Congo, and hug-an-orphan holidays. This attitude means that little attention is paid to the complexities behind the problems. Never mind that there’s actually straightforward business going on here.
My friend Wacuka had a closer look at the ‘Underwear for Africa’ blog where she found this: "Now, Rocky and I have already both discussed how silly the name of this project is. But underwear is a topic that is always good for a giggle. Especially with kids. Can you imagine the smiles on their faces and the laughter in the room when two crazy white ladies from America come bearing gifts of underwear?’ Wacuka’s wry comment: “I'm glad we're making so many people laugh this year. We should get some sort of comedy award." Robbie, in turn, was so incensed by the idea of underwear from the US when refugees need blankets, clothes, malaria nets and such things that he suggested an anti-pants campaign – let’s all go commando this weekend!
(written for Nairobi Star)
I reposted the ‘Underwear for Africa’ initiative on my own Facebook page. The replies from my friends both Kenyan and non-Kenyan mirrored mine: ‘What the (expletive)’ and ‘I am now gobsmacked and slack-jawed at the same time‘. ‘I thought that’s a joke’ featured a few times. Also: ‘quite contemptuous … self-righteous and self-gratifying’. I found their efforts somewhere between incredibly patronizing and just silly. But I bit my tongue and wrote a tame comment on the group’s page: First, that there are a great many perfectly good shops in Kenya that sell underwear of all sorts, so why don’t they send over the money and buy the knickers here – assuming that the lack of underwear is really the issue? Save on transport and put some much-needed money into the Kenyan economy. And secondly, that ‘Africa’ was a continent with 50+ states.
I got some very friendly replies back from Rocky, who set up this campaign, and her husband Jeff. They admitted that I had a point, but, according to Jeff: ‘Obviously it would be better for the economy in Kenya if the purchases were made in Kenya ….However, the eighth grade girl who held the UFA drive may not have been inspired by collecting money. In fact, I'm quite sure she would not have been.’ Rocky added: ‘The reason why we decided to collect here and bring them over ourselves is simple. We are engaging others to be part of the process. You loose that when you simply ask for US$2 to buy underwear. The stories I hear from both adults and children alike when they empty the underwear racks, or PTA members excited to get the children involved in school projects such as this are amazing. People want to get involved. People want to become part of the process. People want to see, feel and be engaged in the bigger picture.’
The replies were, I found, very self centred: It had little to do with working out what really makes sense, and helping in the most efficient way possible. It was, in the end, all about feelings. Their feelings, their kids’ feelings. Is it really beyond a kid’s grasp to understand why a pocket money donation would make more sense than an underwear purchase in the US? It’s good to teach children to help others and get involved directly in the community, but that was just what irritated me: For the kids’ educational experience, why don’t they do something in their own local community? If they really want to help out in Kenya, it’s fantastically inefficient if people from literally the other side of the globe do this profusion of little-little projects here. Hook up with someone who already tries to work out how to keep Kenyan girls in school by helping them with both underwear and sanitary pads. There are so many initiatives by people who live and work here and not only give back to the community, but also do this is in a far more sensible way because they understand the place.
I’m sure the pants people have good intentions. But do good intentions give you license to do just anything? It bugs me that ‘Africa’ – because it’s always that amorphous big entity ‘Africa’, not one particular corner of this vast, diverse continent - has become a charity playground for half of the world to feel good about themselves. Knickers for Africa, actresses pronouncing on the civil war in DR Congo, and hug-an-orphan holidays. This attitude means that little attention is paid to the complexities behind the problems. Never mind that there’s actually straightforward business going on here.
My friend Wacuka had a closer look at the ‘Underwear for Africa’ blog where she found this: "Now, Rocky and I have already both discussed how silly the name of this project is. But underwear is a topic that is always good for a giggle. Especially with kids. Can you imagine the smiles on their faces and the laughter in the room when two crazy white ladies from America come bearing gifts of underwear?’ Wacuka’s wry comment: “I'm glad we're making so many people laugh this year. We should get some sort of comedy award." Robbie, in turn, was so incensed by the idea of underwear from the US when refugees need blankets, clothes, malaria nets and such things that he suggested an anti-pants campaign – let’s all go commando this weekend!
(written for Nairobi Star)
Wyclef at the MTV MAMAs
The MTV MAMAs were well worth the Nairobi traffic horrors on Thika Road - a fantastically fun evening, and, gasp, really well produced and organised! I've always liked Wyclef, and it was great seeing him perform live. I, for one, would have gone home happily after his performance. Here's some of it:
Rummaging around on the web afterwards, I found this rehearsal recording which I love even more.
Rummaging around on the web afterwards, I found this rehearsal recording which I love even more.
20 October 2009
Africa! Drums! Mobile!
The Huffington Post (re) published this 'heartwarming story from Africa' about Samasource and outsourcing some unspecified kind of ITC work to people in, of all places, Dadaab refugee camp. It made little sense to me - all my questions in the comment section. Frustrating: It's usually easier to get media attention for that kind of story rather than (warning: shameless act of self promotion ahead) this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
