From Kenya to the US: How New Technologies are Changing the Coverage of Elections and Beyond
Guy Collender, Communications Officer, London International Development Centre
Charlie Matthews, Events Coordinator Institute of Development Studies
Fragile States and the Media: A Research Dialogue Across DisciplineSymposium
Stanmer House, Brighton, January 16 2009
Overview
Background- New media response to Kenyan post-election violence (Real-time, web-based platform Ushahidi .com, blogs, text messages) - Wiki created and discussed at OUR Media 7 conferenceBeyond Kenya- Impact of Kenyan experience- Ushahidi platform used in South Africa, DRC, Gaza- Other examples of new media tools worldwide (Ethiopia, US)Characteristics of the new media - Advantages/disadvantages - How the new media increasingly drive the news agenda Contributing to the Wiki
Kenyan context: Ballot boxes and killings
Disputed election- Mwai Kibaki (Party of National Unity) and Raila Odinga (Orange Democratic Movement) both claim victory after election on 27 December 2007. Kibaki sworn in on 30 December.Violence- 1,000 killed, and 600,000 displaced in riots and disturbances during next six weeks. Mob torches a church near Eldoret, killing about 30 villagersDiplomacy- Ghanaian President John Kufuor, ex-UN Secretary General Kofi Annan mediate between parties and power-sharing deal agreed on 28 February 2008Today’s politicking- Fractious coalition, claims of Ministry of Agriculture cartels
Ushahidi.com : Crowdsourcing Crisis Information
Bloggers shared ideas and expertise to create Ushahidi (‘testimony’ in Swahili) mashupReal-time, map-based view of incidents: Riots, deaths, rapeSubmissions via email/texts, verification with local NGOs
Diverse perspectives from the blogosphere
Personal, distraught - Kenyan blogger ‘Ritch’: ‘I am hurting inside …
Personal, unconcerned - ‘Africa Expat Wives Club’: Life continues ‘largely as before’
African dimension- Ghanaian blogger ‘paa.kwesi’: ‘Kenya debacle is a prime example of what the lack of a continent-wide defence force leads to.’
Campaigning perspective- Kenyans for Justice – Get Involved , Do Something: Calls for sanctions, letters to MPs, press coverage
Text messages spark rumours
Research by Michelle Osborn, Oxford University , - (2008) Fuelling the flames: Rumour and politics in Kibera, Journal of Eastern African Studies, 2.2: 315-327 Typical text messages:
- Alert! Mungiki r hitting back n slaughtering our pple.
- Mungiki terror gang plan massacre by night raids
Mobile phones used as a “weapon of war” (Bangre) Power of rumour – Rumours were frequently perceived as truths in Kibera, while government or media accounts of events were dismissed as propaganda (Osborn)
Beyond Kenya: Growth of Ushahidi platform
Platform used to map xenophobic attacks in South Africa (May 2008), violence in DRC (Nov 2008) , war in Gaza (Dec-Jan 2008)
The US election and new media
Twitter Vote ReportVoter Supression WikiComparisons to traditional methodsOther countries, similar methods: Mumbai terror attacks, Athens youth protests
Characteristics of new media
Dynamic- Advantage: Aggregate information in new ways – Ushahidi.com- Disadvantage: Technology for its own sake or for a purpose ? – questionable value of some Facebook applicationsGlobal reach - Advantage: Accessible to internet users worldwide, circumvents censorship- Disadvantage: Exacerbates the inequalities of the digital divide Speed and anonymity- Advantage: Capable of providing real-time news, easy and quick to upload/access information, - Disadvantage: Unchecked, unfiltered
Contributing to the Wiki
Become a member of the Eldis Community http://community.eldis.org/
Visit the Wiki Workshop: Gathering Perspectives on the 2007 Kenyan Elections and Their Aftermathhttp://community.eldis.org/.59b7f1a0/Wiki/ - Perspectives from Kenya, Ghana, UK, OUR Media workshop, conflict sensitive journalism
Follow instructions online
The end
IMS Workshop in Kenya on Conflict Sensitive Journalism. Photo: Anne Poulsen/IMS
Contacts
Guy Collender
020 7958 8260 ; www.lidc.org.uk
Charlie Matthews
01273 915 640 ; www.ids.ac.uk
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