Today I had the pleasure to meet Mads Kjaer, the Founder and the CEO of MyC4. Please see my interview with him. This interview was taken with the Flip Video and shows yet again the power of mobile reporting.
Visit the MyC4 website Here
See the entry for Mobile Reporting on Wikipedia
See more background on Mobile Reporting
Posted in civic journalism, Media, Mobile Reporting
Tagged Africa, Ebay, Entrepreneur, Equity, Invest, Kiva, Mads Kjaer, Micro Finance, Microplace, Mobile Phone, Mobile Reporting, MyC4, Online Community, Social Enterprise
We are working to give journalist in Africa advanced mobile phones / small digital recorders (i.e. the flip video). The local journalist use these tools to produce reports in their area and use the mobile and internet network to publish the content to http://www.AfricaNews.com. We are now working to engage 300 individuals spread across 33 African countries.
How does it work ? Watch this short video.- We build and maintain AfricaNews.com
– We work to identify and engage individuals for the network
– We work to provide members with as many reporting tools as we can afford
– We have developed training materials that help improve the quality of the reports
– Our editorial team in Accra work to train, guide and coach the contributors on a daily basis
– etc.
One way we generate income is via our “Really Simple Reporting” program. For a reasonable fee, organizations can commission their own mobile reports. We put together a briefing on a project, event or theme and send this out to one of the local journalist in the field. They can then make a visit to the location and collect the necessary text, photo and video. The report is then uploaded and edited before we send it off to the client. Our partner organizations use these mobile reports for their own websites, newsletters and other communication. These reports are often used in the effort to better communicate with stakeholders – the partners, clients and donors that would be interested in knowing more about what is happening on the ground.
In this way we can help make a career in media more sustainable.
Flip Video has introduced the new Mino. I have been waiting for this model to come out for some time. The added memory is a big plus and the new version boosts an improved recorder. This is great for reporting on the road. Unfortunately, it is not possible to buy these in Europe and I have had to ship one from the United States.
I look forward to trying it out on my trip to Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. Look forward to updating this post with some examples.
We are pleased to announce that our mobile reporting initiative, Voices of Africa, has been nominated as an Honoree for this years Webby Awards.
Other nominees include:
ABC News Mobile
http://wireless.go.com/wireless/
CBS Mobile News mobile site
http://wap.cbsnews.com
FOX Business
http://m.foxbusiness.com/
MTV WAP site
http://wap.mtv.com
South China Morning Post
http://mobile.scmp.com
Time.com
http://mobile.time.com/
VH1 WAP site
http://wap.vh1.com
And our own:
Voices of Africa
There are so many projects in so many different countries. All of these projects need to show the world what kind of progress is being made on the ground.
For example, a local project director, who has received international support, can now show people what is happening in short video, photo and text. This content can be collected via an internet enabled mobile phone and published to the internet on a daily basis – possibly in the form of a mobile weblog.
This process has enormous potential. The more regular and constant the flow of information the more insight and understanding people have for local projects. This could become especially relevant for micro finance.
Imagine a platform where entrepreneurs present themselves online. With the use of mobile reporting, local entrepreneurs can present their business on a daily basis. They can show people when new supplies arrive, when a product is finished or when they have a new employee join the team. They can highlight the challenges for their business and help viewers share in the celebrations.
The more information posted online the more people around the world can live in the experience. This process helps people appreciate local conditions and builds emotional attachment. At the same time, it makes it easier for people to get involved – people invest when they know where their money is going.
The possibilities are endless.
The post election period in Kenya has seen a number of violent crimes take place. In trying to monitor the situation there are a number of initiatives working to document events on the ground.
The aim is to not only have a better understanding of what has/is happening but to see how we can spread the information.
Erik let me know about a new website called Ushahidi.com (witness in Swahili).
The people involved in putting it together:
Ory Okolloh – www.kenyanpundit.com
David Kobia – www.kobiainteractive.com & www.mashada.com
Erik Hersman – www.whiteafrican.com
Daudi Were – www.mentalacrobatics.com/think
Juliana Chebet – www.afromusing.com/blog
Ashok Hariharan
Riyaz Bachani – www.skunkworks-ke.blogspot.com
This is certainly a useful tool so please pass the word.
I also extend my compliments to the team.
Yesterday on the main news channels they showed the protests in Kenya. The coverage made it look like there were major events taking place across the country. In fact there were a few hundred people standing across a thousand police officers. I spoke to many people today in Nairobi and most people are in the office working as always. The schools are open and people are going on with their day to day lives. Even a report that the night life is still kicking into the late evening.
Please see some of the mobile reports on the subject.
Kenya still tourist destination despite crisis
Tourism sites safe despite political unrest
Kenya: Locals rescuing declining tourism
Don’t stay away, Kenya still enjoyable
Although the election crisis is serious, I think this is the other side of the story that is important to take into the situation. To read more on the subject see an article written by the White African.
A number of reports have outlined efforts to shut down various media in Kenya.
This ‘black out’ of sorts has played a role in limiting the collection and spread of information. People on the ground are working to try and change the situation. As AfricaNews.com we see a viable solution in mobile technology.
We have given a number of our journalists internet enabled phones. In the past few months with ALIN and Media Focus on Africa we were able to organize a number of workshops and trainings. This was in lead to the elections without knowing they would take such a turn.
Mobile has been given extensive attention in 2007 but nowhere have we seen it play such a simple, yet important, role. Moving forward, we are convinced that in this type of situation new technology offers viable solutions.
What is interesting with mobile is that we can collect information otherwise missed by the larger media i.e. interviews with shop keepers and short videos of the situation in rural areas. This brings a new context to the situation and helps improve people’s understanding of events. What would be ideal is to see how mobile can play an increased role in helping people to communicate on a local level as well.
And we know there are more initiatives out there. We ask everyone to post anything they have about similar projects and invite people and organizations to open a brainstorm on the subject. Combining expertise and knowledge we hope to make even more progress in 2008.
See an overview of mobile reports: Kenya Elections
p.s. a photo sent by our friend Dipesh
We have been working hard to cover events and have made some considerable progress.
Check out the Kenya Elections platform to see how the mobile phone is being used to document developments on the ground.
Posted in Africa Interactive, AfricaNews.com, civic journalism, Media, Mobile Reporting
Tagged Africa, Africa Interactive, AfricaNews.com, Eldoret, Elections, Kenya, Kenya Elections 2007, Kibaki, Media Focus on Africa, Mobile Phone, Mobile Reporting, Nairobi, Nokia N71, Nokia N73, Photographer, Reporter
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