Five days of training on internet usage for journalists have been fruitful.
Judging from the response and productivity that came from participants, the training was a very good investment to all. With the future in communication, media and social interactions setting to be ‘online’ based those who have been attending the session have all reasons to be thankful.
If only the network connections were as good as the training content. All the same the course rekindled my long existed desire to form either a blog or any online publication outlet from which I will be able to connect with the world and share part of my world.
While we already have established blogs, mine was simply for education purpose with intention to open a serious media blog which hopefully will share with other journalists and trainers of this training very soon.
I do look forward to attend similar training in future with more days in class and faster internet connection.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
HE IS 'PROBABLY' MY BROTHER
He is ‘probably’ my brother
Binyavanga Wainaina’s stay in Dar-es-salaam was accidental, his displaced baggage and the lack of immediately connecting flight to Nairobi which, as it seems, was his original destination
Wainaina was on his way to the Kenyan Capital to attend his mother’s funeral.
So he ended up spending the night at the Tanzania’s coastal city (we still haven’t made up our mind whether Dar should be regarded as the country’s capital).
He finds Tanzanians friendly, which isn’t surprising taking into consideration that he had just arrived from South Africa. The online story doesn’t indicate when this was, but one suspects it might have been in 2008 when foreigners from other African countries were being ill treated (and killed) in Johannesburg.
While Tanzanians are still regarded as more hospitable than other Africans, including (and especially) their immediate neighbors, the Kenyans, it was almost a surprise to Mr Wainaina that such friendliness should be experienced even in the most impersonal of all places; the airport.
Before he left the airport to find a place to sleep, Wainaina had already made friends with an airport attendant, a security officer and, en-route the ride to town, the taxi-cab driver who volunteered to be his guide in the city at no extra pay, why he even contemplated to take his foreign fare home to spend the night.
Tanzanians’ hospitality is usually more noticed by foreigners either because here we take everything for granted or if the truth is to be said, our people like to befriend and be extremely nice to foreigners than they are to their own.
Binyavanga Wainaina’s stay in Dar-es-salaam was accidental, his displaced baggage and the lack of immediately connecting flight to Nairobi which, as it seems, was his original destination
Wainaina was on his way to the Kenyan Capital to attend his mother’s funeral.
So he ended up spending the night at the Tanzania’s coastal city (we still haven’t made up our mind whether Dar should be regarded as the country’s capital).
He finds Tanzanians friendly, which isn’t surprising taking into consideration that he had just arrived from South Africa. The online story doesn’t indicate when this was, but one suspects it might have been in 2008 when foreigners from other African countries were being ill treated (and killed) in Johannesburg.
While Tanzanians are still regarded as more hospitable than other Africans, including (and especially) their immediate neighbors, the Kenyans, it was almost a surprise to Mr Wainaina that such friendliness should be experienced even in the most impersonal of all places; the airport.
Before he left the airport to find a place to sleep, Wainaina had already made friends with an airport attendant, a security officer and, en-route the ride to town, the taxi-cab driver who volunteered to be his guide in the city at no extra pay, why he even contemplated to take his foreign fare home to spend the night.
Tanzanians’ hospitality is usually more noticed by foreigners either because here we take everything for granted or if the truth is to be said, our people like to befriend and be extremely nice to foreigners than they are to their own.
terrorist or freedom fighter?
Ghailan: This line between terrorist and freedom fighter
One man’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter; this can well be attested in the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani an alleged ‘terrorist’ who is accused of helping Al-Qaeda in attacks on the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
He is now the first Guantanamo detainee who has been tried in a US civilian court and found guilty of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives.
But he was also cleared of many other counts including murder and murder conspiracy.
Ghailani faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. The verdict comes as the US weighs other civilian terror trials.
The BBC's Iain Mackenzie, in Washington, says the verdict will be seen as a huge blow to the Obama administration and its pledge to try Guantanamo suspects in civilian courts.
Elsewhere, in Afghanistan for instance, Ghailan just like the notorious Osama Bin Laden is regarded as a freedom fighter notwithstanding that when the US embassies in both Dar-es-salaam and Nairobi were shelled in synchronized attacks over a decade ago; some hundred and twenty four people lost their lives.
When reporting his arrest in Gujarat, the Pakistan Times described Mr Ahmad Khailfan and his Uzbek wife as being among the 14 Al-Qaeda suspects arrested in the 16-hour long Gujrat operation by Pakistan Law Enforcement Agencies.
The paper quoted the Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat who stated that the Pakistani security forces had captured a high-level al Qaeda operative ‘who was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.’
Ghailan who was born in Zanzibar and normally conversed in Swahili apparently cannot drive which leaves many to wonder how he accomplished his missions most of which require fast movements from one point to another, sometimes carrying heavy explosives.
One man’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter; this can well be attested in the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani an alleged ‘terrorist’ who is accused of helping Al-Qaeda in attacks on the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya in 1998.
He is now the first Guantanamo detainee who has been tried in a US civilian court and found guilty of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives.
But he was also cleared of many other counts including murder and murder conspiracy.
Ghailani faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. The verdict comes as the US weighs other civilian terror trials.
The BBC's Iain Mackenzie, in Washington, says the verdict will be seen as a huge blow to the Obama administration and its pledge to try Guantanamo suspects in civilian courts.
Elsewhere, in Afghanistan for instance, Ghailan just like the notorious Osama Bin Laden is regarded as a freedom fighter notwithstanding that when the US embassies in both Dar-es-salaam and Nairobi were shelled in synchronized attacks over a decade ago; some hundred and twenty four people lost their lives.
When reporting his arrest in Gujarat, the Pakistan Times described Mr Ahmad Khailfan and his Uzbek wife as being among the 14 Al-Qaeda suspects arrested in the 16-hour long Gujrat operation by Pakistan Law Enforcement Agencies.
The paper quoted the Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat who stated that the Pakistani security forces had captured a high-level al Qaeda operative ‘who was on the FBI's most-wanted terrorist list in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa.’
Ghailan who was born in Zanzibar and normally conversed in Swahili apparently cannot drive which leaves many to wonder how he accomplished his missions most of which require fast movements from one point to another, sometimes carrying heavy explosives.
Green Belt Movement; Kenya's tree hugging pride
Uhuru Park, the well-landscaped gardens in the heart of Nairobi City is a favorite hang-out spot and weekend destination area for thousands of the Kenyan Capital residents.
The gardens are lush-green with assortments of indigenous and modern tree species as well as gushing water springs. In the early nineties during the reign of the country’s second president Mr Daniel Arap Moi however, Uhuru Park fate was almost doomed.
A proposed real estate development project which was to see the construction of a 60 storied commercial building was earmarked for the area and with the backing of the then government under the single ruling party (KANU) nothing could stop such venture, right?
Well wrong, enters Prof. Waangari Maathai an iron lady who founded the tree-hugging Green Belt Movement in Kenya. Essentially that was when the GBM commanded great worldwide respect which later earned Prof Maathat a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
She single handedly fought to stop the project even at the times when few would dare oppose the Kenyan President. Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai has become a spokesperson for a number of important issues and initiatives.
The Green Belt Movement, an environmental initiative has also gone international while the founder who at one time got to serve as member of parliament remains a respected civil society and women's rights activist.
The gardens are lush-green with assortments of indigenous and modern tree species as well as gushing water springs. In the early nineties during the reign of the country’s second president Mr Daniel Arap Moi however, Uhuru Park fate was almost doomed.
A proposed real estate development project which was to see the construction of a 60 storied commercial building was earmarked for the area and with the backing of the then government under the single ruling party (KANU) nothing could stop such venture, right?
Well wrong, enters Prof. Waangari Maathai an iron lady who founded the tree-hugging Green Belt Movement in Kenya. Essentially that was when the GBM commanded great worldwide respect which later earned Prof Maathat a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
She single handedly fought to stop the project even at the times when few would dare oppose the Kenyan President. Since winning the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai has become a spokesperson for a number of important issues and initiatives.
The Green Belt Movement, an environmental initiative has also gone international while the founder who at one time got to serve as member of parliament remains a respected civil society and women's rights activist.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Online Media outlets making news
So how many media outlets are online without getting physically in print? There should be tens of thousands but some of those we visited in the third day of computer training simply redefine journalism.
Bad news is what makes good reporting right? Well wrong or at least not as far as ‘Africa Good News’ website is concerned. Here you get to read totally positive and inspiration articles about the continent whose only mention in international media involves war, poverty and diseases.
At ‘Africa-good-news' you get to read about the continent’s tourism potential, outstanding personalities and other achievers in various fields ranging from sports, community development and even politics.
The Mail & Guardian may have struggled with native South Africans during their struggle against apartheid but having existed from the early 1900s it could possibly be the oldest publication on the continent.
The M&G website is a constantly updated one unlike its print version which comes out once a week (Fridays) but the paper is a living example that old shouldn’t be necessarily be ‘old-fashioned’ because ‘Mail and Guardian’ reads better than most newcomers in the media business.
Bad news is what makes good reporting right? Well wrong or at least not as far as ‘Africa Good News’ website is concerned. Here you get to read totally positive and inspiration articles about the continent whose only mention in international media involves war, poverty and diseases.
At ‘Africa-good-news' you get to read about the continent’s tourism potential, outstanding personalities and other achievers in various fields ranging from sports, community development and even politics.
The Mail & Guardian may have struggled with native South Africans during their struggle against apartheid but having existed from the early 1900s it could possibly be the oldest publication on the continent.
The M&G website is a constantly updated one unlike its print version which comes out once a week (Fridays) but the paper is a living example that old shouldn’t be necessarily be ‘old-fashioned’ because ‘Mail and Guardian’ reads better than most newcomers in the media business.
The Online Media that makes news
So how many media outlets are online without getting physically in print? There should be tens of thousands but some of those we visited in the third day of computer training simply redefine journalism.
Bad news is what makes good reporting right? Well wrong or at least not as far as ‘Africa Good News’ website is concerned. Here you get to read totally positive and inspiration articles about the continent whose only mention in international media involves war, poverty and diseases.
At ‘Africa-good-news’ you get to read about the continent’s tourism potential, outstanding personalities and other achievers in various fields ranging from sports, community development and even politics.
The Mail & Guardian may have struggled with native South Africans during their struggle against apartheid but having existed from the early 1900s it could possibly be the oldest publication on the continent.
The M&G website is a constantly updated one unlike its print version which comes out once a week (Fridays) but the paper is a living example that old shouldn’t be necessarily be ‘old-fashioned’ because ‘Mail and Guardian’ reads better than most newcomers in the media business.
Bad news is what makes good reporting right? Well wrong or at least not as far as ‘Africa Good News’ website is concerned. Here you get to read totally positive and inspiration articles about the continent whose only mention in international media involves war, poverty and diseases.
At ‘Africa-good-news’ you get to read about the continent’s tourism potential, outstanding personalities and other achievers in various fields ranging from sports, community development and even politics.
The Mail & Guardian may have struggled with native South Africans during their struggle against apartheid but having existed from the early 1900s it could possibly be the oldest publication on the continent.
The M&G website is a constantly updated one unlike its print version which comes out once a week (Fridays) but the paper is a living example that old shouldn’t be necessarily be ‘old-fashioned’ because ‘Mail and Guardian’ reads better than most newcomers in the media business.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Second day of internet training
Second day of the internet training sessions and we get to discover even more media websites ranging from those offering Radio and Video streams to weekly newspapers as well as never seen before (at least to us) local online publications.
We get to understand why some people prefer websites like ‘Habari Leo’ which loads faster even on slow network and Mwananchi which features plenty of interactive comments from its readers and even saucy, periodical tabloids have made it on line which means even the male population which wouldn’t want to be seen holding such a publication in public can enjoy a good snoop in the confinement of their laptops.
And who would have known that a newspaper like Majira do publish its contents online through a blog? Not a bad idea as long as it is done properly like Majira did. Oh, love it or hate it the (CCM) party owned ‘Uhuru’ also claims own share of bytes online and so does ‘Tanzania Daima’ alleged to be a publication of CHADEMA though its representatives argue it is not.
Judging from the response of participants today, internet is quite an interesting portal into another world of abundant information, media and entertainment not just a working tool for sending stories or receiving press releases.
We get to understand why some people prefer websites like ‘Habari Leo’ which loads faster even on slow network and Mwananchi which features plenty of interactive comments from its readers and even saucy, periodical tabloids have made it on line which means even the male population which wouldn’t want to be seen holding such a publication in public can enjoy a good snoop in the confinement of their laptops.
And who would have known that a newspaper like Majira do publish its contents online through a blog? Not a bad idea as long as it is done properly like Majira did. Oh, love it or hate it the (CCM) party owned ‘Uhuru’ also claims own share of bytes online and so does ‘Tanzania Daima’ alleged to be a publication of CHADEMA though its representatives argue it is not.
Judging from the response of participants today, internet is quite an interesting portal into another world of abundant information, media and entertainment not just a working tool for sending stories or receiving press releases.
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