POST 1
Photo showing freedom of press in Africa
Almost all of Africa is classified as "not free" when dealing with access to media and freedom of the press. The photo above lists all the countries within Africa is either "free", "partly free", and "not free". In one of the most Northern countries like Algeria, it is considered not free according to freedomhouse.org. Since 1992, and still in effect throughout 2009, the African government has deemed it illegal for anyone to publish information deemed threatening to the state or public order (freedomhouse). "A 2001 amendment to the Press Law further restricts press freedom by criminalizing writings, cartoons, and speech that insults or offends the president, the parliament, the judiciary, or the armed forces" (freedomhouse). This is just to show how serious the government is in doing almost anything to stop journalists or people from writing about them or expressing their opinion. After looking through many different sites, access to media is something that is very hard to come by in Africa, particularly North Africa. Things like politics, the economy and even geographical issues keep people out of the light when it comes to international communications.
Africa Liberal Network, . "Press Freedom." Freedom of Expression; Africa Liberals in Action. Africa Liberal Network, 2011. Web. 21 Jul 2011. <http://advocacy.africaliberalnetwork.org/map.aspx?i_PageID=122#>.
POST 2
Photo of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
Among the many factors that keep the people of North Africa from obtaining any media throughout the world is that fact that the literacy rate is so low. Not being able to read or understand any language is extremely crucial when understanding the media and the world a person lives in. I came across a very interesting article that talks about the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his motive to help people learn how to read and gain an interest in doing so. His idea is to publish a book that contains nothing but Facebook chat messages that have been copied down from his account. He believes it will "revive a reading culture in Nigeria" (Global Dashboard). So far, between 30 and 40 percent of citizens in North Africa are illiterate and the President has a very optimistic outlook on his idea (Maps of World). He has received some support from people that follow him and there have also been some negative opinions about his idea. Others argue they will not be able to read simply because they have no source of light provided to their homes which will make it difficult. One person wrote "This is good…em em ..but we still need the LIGHT you promised to enable us read the books," (Global Dashboard).
Weston, Mark. "Illiteracy in Nigeria: the Facebook Solution." Global Dashboard. WordPress, 31 Dec. 2010. Web. 17 Jul 2011. <http://www.globaldashboard.org/2010/12/31/illiteracy-in-nigeria-the-facebook-solution/>.
Unknown, . "World Illiteracy Map." Maps of World. MapXL, 2009. Web. 21 Jul 2011. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/world-illiteracy-map.htm>.
According to the Maps of World website, literacy is the key factor for a country to develop. Their focus on Africa has shown percentages as high as 60 percent of Africa is illiterate. In the map provided, it can be seen that the entire continent is affected by this problem but mostly Central and Northern Africa has a high population of the problem. The map's legend shows how places like Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan are in the 30-49 percent range (Maps of World). Surrounding states like Mali, Niger, and Chad are even the 50 or more percentage of being illiterate (Maps of World). There is a huge difference in literacy rates when compared to more developed countries like the U.S. or Europe. Only approximately 2.8 million people are not able to read out of the 300 million in the U.S. (Maps of World). Many factors can be the problem affecting a country's literacy rate such as economical issues, political strains, or lack of urbanization. Organizations such UNESCO is making it a priority to help stop this problem in underdeveloped countries.
"World Illiteracy Map." Maps of World. MapXL, 2009. Web. 18 Jul 2011. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/world-illiteracy-map.htm>.
Northern Africa has a lot of restrictions with the press and media access by the population. There are about 100 privately-owned printing companies in Algeria and they are always under the watch of authorities (freedomhouse). Among the private-owned companies are all state run printing presses. These companies are completely governed by the state and editors are constantly under pressure to print papers and magazines under their direction. Unfortunately, the state is the largest form of income for the papers since they supply all of the ad space to each company. Access to media such as television and radio is possible for people in Algeria, but it is entirely state-owned. The broadcasts always display favoritism towards the government and biased information along with words to encourage the boycott of elections. Recently, the 2009 election was something of high priority for the government to spread the act of boycotting (freedomhouse). Internet access is relatively low at 13.5 percent of the population. There are no restrictions to the amount of internet supplied to the citizens but their blogs, and writings on websites are constantly monitored by the government and many have been charged for defamation towards the government (freedomhouse). Internet usage in Africa alone is at a very low rate of 5.7 percent compared to a staggering 94.3 percent of the world's internet usage. (Internet World Stats).
Unknown, . "Map of Press Freedom." freedomhouse.org. Freedom House, 2010. Web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010>.
Throughout Africa, internet usage has been increasing thanks to the access to wireless internet in mostly the developing states. But the amount of internet access is not where it should be when compared to other countries. Based on the interview above of Eric Chinje of World Bank Institute, many media companies in Africa must look into getting their information up on the internet if they plan on staying in business. According to Time Magazine, only about 50 million people have access to the internet in the entire continent which means only 5% or fewer have access. Only 1% has access to broadband internet (Smith). In Eric's interview on YouTube, he makes it a point that with the growth of technology today, it is crucial that "media must change" said Eric. "Traditional models no longer work, we see them crumbling all around us...we can no longer sustain traditional media." He strongly recommended that in order for Africa's new business to be successful, it must incorporate a "changed landscape" to attract new audiences (Eric Chinje interview). When asked to give advice to any media companies who were listening, Chinje said, "They have to be concerned about the future, if not, they are walking themselves out of the business," (Eric Chinje interview).
"African Media Must Embrace Technology in Order to Survive ." YouTube - IWPRmedia. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMxiSfSGcd0>.
POST 3
According to the Maps of World website, literacy is the key factor for a country to develop. Their focus on Africa has shown percentages as high as 60 percent of Africa is illiterate. In the map provided, it can be seen that the entire continent is affected by this problem but mostly Central and Northern Africa has a high population of the problem. The map's legend shows how places like Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan are in the 30-49 percent range (Maps of World). Surrounding states like Mali, Niger, and Chad are even the 50 or more percentage of being illiterate (Maps of World). There is a huge difference in literacy rates when compared to more developed countries like the U.S. or Europe. Only approximately 2.8 million people are not able to read out of the 300 million in the U.S. (Maps of World). Many factors can be the problem affecting a country's literacy rate such as economical issues, political strains, or lack of urbanization. Organizations such UNESCO is making it a priority to help stop this problem in underdeveloped countries.
Map showing the literacy rates of Africa
"World Illiteracy Map." Maps of World. MapXL, 2009. Web. 18 Jul 2011. <http://www.mapsofworld.com/thematic-maps/world-illiteracy-map.htm>.
POST 4
Northern Africa has a lot of restrictions with the press and media access by the population. There are about 100 privately-owned printing companies in Algeria and they are always under the watch of authorities (freedomhouse). Among the private-owned companies are all state run printing presses. These companies are completely governed by the state and editors are constantly under pressure to print papers and magazines under their direction. Unfortunately, the state is the largest form of income for the papers since they supply all of the ad space to each company. Access to media such as television and radio is possible for people in Algeria, but it is entirely state-owned. The broadcasts always display favoritism towards the government and biased information along with words to encourage the boycott of elections. Recently, the 2009 election was something of high priority for the government to spread the act of boycotting (freedomhouse). Internet access is relatively low at 13.5 percent of the population. There are no restrictions to the amount of internet supplied to the citizens but their blogs, and writings on websites are constantly monitored by the government and many have been charged for defamation towards the government (freedomhouse). Internet usage in Africa alone is at a very low rate of 5.7 percent compared to a staggering 94.3 percent of the world's internet usage. (Internet World Stats).
Unknown, . "Map of Press Freedom." freedomhouse.org. Freedom House, 2010. Web. 16 Jul 2011. <http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010>.
POST 5
Interview of Eric Chinje, head of World Bank Institute's Global Media Programme
"African Media Must Embrace Technology in Order to Survive ." YouTube - IWPRmedia. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMxiSfSGcd0>.
Smith, Adam. "High-Speed Internet Coming to Africa." TimeBusiness. Time Magazine, 15 Sept. 2008. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1841175,00.html>.
POST 6
POST 6
After doing some more research on internet use in Africa, especially North Africa, I found out that access to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have become very important with the protest or information that has been spread around by citizens. I came across two very interesting articles that mostly deal with states like Egypt and Tunisia and the role these social networking sites help to either remove corrupt political leaders or voice opinions. Writer Ted Nguyen, an award-winning PR and social media professional said how the up-rise in the use of Twitter has actually helped to get rid of both Tunisia's and Egypt's leaders. The use of these social media sites is increasingly growing in North Africa and the Middle East (Nguyen). People were outraged after word spread around about a young woman named Neda Soltan being killed in 2009 by a police sniper for simply watching a group of protestors in Iran (Nguyen). Her final minutes were captured on Twitter and YouTube for the world to see what horrific things happen to innocent people. "Protest of old featured rock- and stone-throwing youths, but in today’s world, words on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are more powerful in mobilizing the masses, building worldwide support and forcing old men to step down," wrote Nguyen.
Picture from Ted Nguyen's article on social media revolution
Getting back to North Africa, Matt Cherry of CNN says that social media is going to play a crucial role in North Africa's unrest.
"'Social media is key to the revolution taking place in North Africa, and this may actually be the first time a government leader has lost power because of social media," said Darrell West, the vice president for governance studies at the Brookings Institution, referring to the ousting of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali' - Matt Cherry, CNN
Unfortunately, all of these social media sites are overlooked by the government and the government officials even put up false information to try and confuse people about what is going on. This happened during the election protests of 2009 (Cherry). Ben Wedemen of CNN said that young people in Egypt are very smart with the new technology and was able to look past the false information and government blocks (Cherry).
Cherry , Matt. "Social Media's Role in North Africa's Unrest." CNN. CNN, 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/27/social-medias-role-in-north-africas-unrest/>.
Nguyen, Ted. "Social media revolution ignites Middle East and North Africa." Ted Nguyen USA on PR. WordPress, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://www.tednguyenusa.com/social-media-ignites-revolutions-in-middle-east-and-north-africa/>.
POST 7
While I was looking for different factors that effect journalism in Africa, I came across a dissertation that discusses the training or schooling that people in Africa go through while studying journalism and found some interesting information. Anya Schiffrin is the director of the International Media, Advocacy and Communications specialization at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs in New York and was the writer of this dissertation. She talks about how different global companies actually provide the funding to train the African journalists to write. Companies like BBC, Thomson Reuters, and The World Bank are the bigger aids to the training. The main downfall to these training programs, Anya writes, is the focus is mostly on European or American issues like the economy, politics, and business. People argue that training programs should be based on traditional African values and look into cultures and issues of the continent. Only NGO's offer training to people about issues in Africa like HIV/AIDS, clean water, and human trafficking (Schriffin).
"A number of government agencies (including the Central Banks of Barbados, Kenya, Nigeria, Turkey and Mexico) do their own training because they are frustrated with the poor level of economic coverage in their countries. They use training to help journalists understand the economic topics they write about and to familiarize journalists with economic concepts and the workings of the central bank." - Anya Schriffin
These agencies that conduct the training programs only last for a few days because they lack the funding and knowledge from the government (Schriffin).
(PDF file) Schriffin, Anya. "Google docs." Google. Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, 8 June 2011. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fOuA-AnRRoYJ:wjec.ru.ac.za/index.php?option%3Dcom_rubberdoc%26view%3Ddoc%26id%3D82%26format%3Draw%26Itemid%3D45+geographical+factors+for+media+in+africa&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgm9kAJwujJlN38WclpQ3gt4hHSpHt6f32BZdwYON5HseBKTlI_Zbphj_z0_ND63QnPlfv8cNxVYpRNBDgzOK2-1WJKFz8ojJDnInhApYsJRU5YIL6Mwz16hmEenSQqj5enDLyu&sig=AHIEtbRkSNjkgMRz255r5oaFVg6-XT_j1g>.
POST 8
Map of Morocco supplied by JustWorldMap.com
It is pretty obvious that much of North Africa's access to media is halted mostly due to the political system and the initiative the government takes to keep people from expressing their opinions. Dozens of journalists and regular citizens have been jailed for days to years for saying their thoughts or trying to gain access to Facebook or Twitter. The state of Morocco is a good example with the limited access the citizens have to the internet. According to freedomhouse.org, Morocco is in fact supposed to be a free state under its constitution, but the government takes every measure they can to not allow it to have any press freedom. Since authorities are very sensitive to issues about the government or opinions brought up by civilians, they have much control over how many people actually have access to the internet and any broadcasts from abroad (freedomhouse). Since a lot of the FM radio stations are state-owned and prohibit any discussion of political topics, Moroccans are able to gain access to pan-Arab and other satellite television stations (freedomhouse). Another interesting face that was found is in 2009, an estimated 32 percent of the population had access to the internet and those who did have access were blocked from viewing sites such as Google Earth and LiveJournal, which is an online blogging site (freedomhouse).
Unknown, . "Map of Press Freedom." freedomhouse.org. Freedom House, 2011. Web. 23 Jul 2011. <http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010>.
POST 9
Tunisian girls checking their laptops at a Wi-Fi cafe in Tunisia, provided by PHYSORG.com
Much like the state of Morocco, Tunisia is also very heavily guarded by the government when it comes to freedom expression and the use of blogging sites. This state is also classified as not free according to freedomhouse.org. There are also satellite stations provided by foreign companies that are sometimes broadcasted to the public unless they are said to have been blocked by the government (freedomhouse). Besides television use, internet access is around the same as Morocco with 34 percent of its population using the internet. The only problem with internet usage is in order for someone to sit in a (state-owned) cafe, they must register their name and any other kind of personal information before gaining access. Blogging sites, video-sharing, and networking sites are blocked by the government (freedomhouse).
Journalists must also deal with the government when trying to gain access to information. Out of the eight government-owned papers, Al-Mawkif, a private-owned paper lacks support from the government and has a hard to time bringing in revenue from advertisments. Journalists trying to obtain any information from the government are always denied access (freedomhouse).
Unknown, . "Map of Press Freedom." freedomhouse.org. Freedom House, 2011. Web. 24 Jul 2011. <http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=251&year=2010>.
POST 10
Internet use in Northern Africa is something that very few people have access to. I came across an interesting site by Time Magazine that talks about the current internet situation in Africa and the steps the continent is taking to supply internet and broadband connections to the citizens. The article opens with a very accurate headline that definitely grabbed my attention; "If you're reading this in Africa, you're one of the few who can," (TimeBusiness). The continent as a whole only has around 50 million internet users which is small when compared to greats like Asia, Europe, and America. According to internetworldstats.com, Nigeria holds 44 million of the continents 50 million internet users. Egypt and Morocco are the second and third largest countries with 20.1 and 13.2 million users (InternetWorldStats). Few people, approximately 1 percent of the population actually have access to broadband or faster internet (TimeBusiness). Citizens in sub-Saharan Africa will spend around $366 per month for fast internet where as India only pays only $44 per month (TimeBusiness). With a low rate of telephone lines in Africa, more efforts are being made to have access to satellites for affordable internet use by 2010 (TimeBusiness). The development of internet, especially faster internet could bring people together on social networks like Facebook and also boost many other aspects of a country. "Boosting connectivity should do the same to countries' social and economic health, stoking trade and granting citizens access to crucial online health, education and government services, economist say," (TimeBusiness).
Smith, Adam. "Time Business." High-Speed Internet Coming to Africa. Time Magazine, 15 Sept. 2008. Web. 27 July 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1841175-1,00.html>.
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