Once again, EvN Media is one of the coordinators of this annual event. The team is currently busy compiling the programme. We have made a first selection of speakers and projects that we will showcase but if you have any suggestions you are welcome to let us know. Our contact details are on the DCI website. Read our Concept Document for more information.

The search for funders is ongoing. We apply with Hivos, FreeVoice, OSISA and Samdef on a regular basis. It is not easy to receive funding but we keep our hopes up. We are now moving quicker, producing more and more interesting research proposals, to different funders to ensure that we can work on a project this year.

There is still a lot to research within the  Southern African media landscape, especially when it comes to mobile media and using new media for social justice and activism. EvN will continue writing research proposals that aim to uplift the standards of journalism and fight for the voiceless in 2010.

In 2009 EvN extended its practical skills on multiple media platforms, including mobile. Keeping up-to-date with new media technologies and social media is necessary to grow EvN into a company that keeps on the foreground of offering new media solutions to media companies and media projects. The year also presented many new insights with projects related to press freedom and digital activism.

2010

EvN in 2010 will keep on offering the friendly, quick and professional service you are used to. With the World Cup on the calendar it will be a more dynamic year and it is anticipated that EvN will this year work with new clients from all over the world.

EvN Media Solutions in 2010 will continue to offer the following services:

• multimedia productions of hard and soft news  from Southern Africa and The Netherlands
• editing of (South African) English and Dutch articles
• newsroom management during multimedia projects
• newsroom assistance
• academic research into new/ social/ mobile media
• lectures, workshop and master classes about new media/ social media/ journalism skills/ Southern Africa
• media consultancy & Southern Africa travel consultancy
• translating of text from (South African) English to Dutch
• …and much much more…

Please get in touch via our Contact page, we would love to hear from you!

All the best in 2010,

EvN – Media Solutions

DCI 4.0 PRESS RELEASE

The fourth Digital Citizen’s Indaba (DCI) takes place on 5 – 6 September at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, just before the University’s annual Highway Africa conference. DCI is an annual event that brings together bloggers, online and mobile journalists, citizen reporters, new media practitioners, online industry experts and civil society representatives. The purpose of DCI is to encourage citizen participation in debate about the state of digital media, information sharing and skills transfer using experts in the field. It encourages the use of new media take-up by non-journalists.

THEME
The theme of this year’s DCI is ‘Digital civil society and journalism in Africa’. There has been an explosion of new media at civil society level. Issues around land rights and access to housing and water are finding their way into the digital public sphere. Violence monitoring by civil society has become easier, as mapping technology can be used to warn people about outbreaks of violence. Maps are being used to inform citizens about where to access medicines, and they may warn against shortages in access to essential treatment such as antiretrovirals. As a result of growing civil society usage of new media, mainstream media have a broader array of information to
draw on, and are able to take up issues that would not have otherwise have found their way into the public domain.

LINE-UP
The DCI line-up includes keynote speaker Dubissi Tande, a prolific blogger on African affairs, who will be speaking on the state of social justice digital media in Africa. Elia Varela Serra (Maneno.org) together with Bolivian Voices editor Eduardo Ávila Maneno will enlighten us on the ever pertinent topic of promoting indigenous languages in digital media. Another panel with Nthateng Mhlambiso (Behind the Mask) and Maureen Agena (Women of Uganda Network) focuses on gender, civil society and digital media.

Civil society’s use of mapping tools will be explored by Bobby Soriano (Tactical Tech), Brett Davidson (Stop Stockouts) and Ndesjano Macha (Global Voices). The ways in which technology can be used to promote activism around land, environment and health will be discussed with Stephan Hofstatter (freelance journalist), Peter Benjamin (Cell-Life), Ednah Karamagi (BROSDI) and Bobby Marie (Monitoring Action).

WORKSHOPS
DCI 4.0 this year offers six workshops to ensure that all delegates will, besides knowledge, take practical skills back home to assist communities with digital activism and social justice on a local level. The workshop titles are “Multimedia Tools for Journalism” (Peter Verweij, Hogeschool Utrecht), “Digital Voices to Reconstruct Communities” (Marlon Parker, CPUT), “Successful Podcasting” (Jayne Morgan, Podcart.co.za), “Mapping Tools for Civil Society Use” (Ndesanjo Macha, Global Voices), “Using Mobile Media for Social Change” (Peter Benjamin, Cell-Life) and “Bringing Down the Barriers with Interactive Audio Programming and Mobile Phones” (Brenda Burrell, Kubatana.net).

CONTACT US
Visit the DCI website (www.dcindaba.com) for live updates and more information.
You can also find us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/dcindaba or use #DCI09 to search for DCI Tweets. Contact the DCI team via the website or email to dcindaba@gmail.com.

Evaluations
During the final lecture of each course the students fill out a self-made evaluation form. Completely new for me was teaching blogging within a School. The fourth-year students work in a crossmedia lab, using mostly radio and television, and had to now integrate Campusblog.nl in their schedule.

Some comments:

“Blogging is not scary at all, I can actually do it myself”
–
“It was very cool to hear about Web 3.o, as a person who is interested in Internet-related news I didn’t realise what impact it has”
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“Blogging is not just for people who like to write about themselves, you can use it as a journalist. I think I’ll start setting up a blog with my work soon”

Freelance theory evaluations
Another course that was new to me is Freelance Theory. As a freelance journalist myself I had to now tell about 60 eager-to-learn third and fourth year journalism students about the mistakes I’ve made, how I survive financially and how I cope with doing my own administration. Luckily I had tons of guests and a great book to help me out. See my previous blog post for more.

Some comments:

“I now know how to get started. I really need to work on my network”
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“I really loved listening to all the anecdotes and practical hints and tips, this was very useful”
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“Before these lectures I didn’t know if I wanted to take the risk and start my own text writing company. I was worried about the financial side and the administration. Thank you for clearing up a lot of the questions I had”
–
“It’s really not that difficult as I thought. You just need to DO it and not just THINK about doing it. I will become a freelancer, I’m 100% sure now”
–

Buzz buzz
I did learn that all students apparently need a break between the hours during every lecture. It was normal for me to keep on going for two hours in a row but today’s climate is more relaxed then it ever was, which means coffee at the start of the class, during the break AND afterwards. Buzz buzz

Tight deadlines
Other students first complain about the tight deadlines I set, only realising later on that it helps them get through the course. Others find the assignments difficult, but challenging a student can be very rewarding. Many students now realise that being a freelance journalist doesn’t just mean having as many holidays as you want.

I hope to continue lecturing at the end of this year and I will obviously take all the comments from the evaluations with me.

First of all there are the media houses themselves, then the advertisers and lastly the audience.

Several questions pop-up: how sustainable are mobile news platforms for media houses and are mobile solutions profitable? Do advertisers want to pay for cell-phone advertisements and are South Africans prepared to pay for news content on their cell phones?

Ultimately

Obviously these are topics that need to be researched: most South Africans have access to cell phones and research into mobile platforms have not been this complete and detailed. It will not only contribute to the knowledge of the media houses but also examine its target audience and the advertisement market. Ultimately, it would provide a resource that other African media houses can consult when developing a mobile content platform.

If there are people or companies who can assist, have helpful hints or ideas, you can leave a comment or contact Elvira.