Working to track the violent crimes in Kenya

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.

Mobile Reporting being used to bring perspective in Kenya

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.

http://whiteafrican.com/

Kenya shuts down media – Mobile Reporting offers a viable solution

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

Mobile Reporters cover elections in Kenya

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.

Kenya Elections

2007 was a big year for African media

AfricaNews.com launched its new website in August of 2007. Since the launch of our 3rd website we have made big progress. There are now more than 90 African journalists, photographers and film makers reporting from more than 25 African countries.

We also launched our Voices of Africa project and now have a number of contributors using mobile phones to collect and publish content to the internet. They do this without needing access to a computer or traditional internet connection. The power of mobile publishing is now seen as we cover the recent events in Kenya.

See some mobile videos on the Kenya Elections. http://www.africanews.com…esofafrica_kenya_election

However, we are not the only ones working to strengthen the African media sector. In the past 12 months we have seen a number of important developments.

See a list of some milestones (feel free to add or correct):

February – Launch Reuters Africa

March – Launch KLM Club Africa and introduction Voices of Africa

April – Launch Afrigator & Amatomu

June – Launch CNBC Africa

August – Launch AfricaNews.com and NowPublic.Com

September – Google hires first employees in Kenya and SA

Would be great to create a comprehensive list of all of the developments seen in 2007. Feel free to add to this list and let us set high expectations for 2008!

African Parks now in the picture!

AfricaNews.com works with Heras and African Parks to document the work being done on the Majete Wildlife Reserve in Malawi. This is a spectacular project about the wildlife, the communities and the organizations all part of this sustainable initiative. Please have a look at a website and let us know what you think!

Majete Wildlife Park

Why do reporters join AfricaNews.com ?

Hi all,

AfricaNews.com continues to grow.

I believe there are now 90 journalists, photographers and film makers in some 25 African countries. This is a remarkable development and we are certainly working hard to expand the program even further! As most of you know, AfricaNews.com is one of Africa’s first pan African community news websites. A growing percentage of the content is user generated. As AfricaNews.com is an open platform this also means we do not have the resources to pay for content.

So why are people joining?

1) Because AfricaNews.com is an open community for people to share their own news and information

2) AfricaNews.com offers a different perspective

Mobile Reporting

Good news!

Our mobile project Voices of Africa is making big steps. Journalists in several countries are sending text, photos and videos via their mobile phone. We are getting a couple of videos a day and the content keeps getting better.

Check out the mobile platform and let us know what you think!

Voices of Africa

If you have ideas or ways we can work on this project feel free to drop us a line.

A growing network of African media talent

We are pleased to announce that there are now 75 journalists reporting from more than 25 African countries.

This is an amazing development given the program has been live less than three months! There are about 3 new applications a week. Check out the network: http://www.africanews.com/site/page/reporters.

From the google map you can see where each reporter is located. There are many countries we would like to cover. If you are a reporter or you know people who would like to join let us know!

And how are we coming along ?

AfricaNews.com has gone through some pretty serious development.

We are curious to know what people are thinking? Do you like it? How is the layout? What do you like best and what do you think we can still change? We are always looking to improve the experience.

If you have some feedback please let us know!