The Drum Beat 583 - Contest Winners - Blogging on Development Policy
This issue of The Drum Beat shares with you the winning entries from the Blogging on Development Policy contest, run collaboratively by The Communication Initiative (The CI) and the BBC World Service Trust, a CI Partner. This contest solicited persuasive critiques and discussion on the relationship between media, communications, and international development policy for posting to the collaborative blog Communication, Media, and Development Policy.
Many thanks to all who participated in the contest. To access links to all of the blogs that were submitted, visit this recent issue of The Drum Beat.
Congratulations to the winners! Below find excerpts from, and links to, winning blogs in two categories:
- The TOP EIGHT OUTSTANDING BLOGGERS: who will be contributing 3 additional blog posts. (Watch for them and comment at Communication, Media, and Development Policy)
- The TOP TWO CONTROVERSIAL BLOGGERS: acknowledging their skill in inspiring dialogue.
BBC World Service Trust and The CI chose winning bloggers from among the CI Network member-bloggers who posted blogs on a variety of topics: from media independence to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to influence policy, from media gender assessments to the use of blogging against oppression. Decisions were made based on relevance of submissions to the terms of reference, fulfilment of the minimum requirement of two submissions, and editorial quality of posts.
The "Top Eight Outstanding Bloggers" are, in alphabetical order:
1. ambika samarthya for two posts:
"Can it be said that no two countries are unhappy in the same way? With the fall of Tunisia followed by the revolution in Egypt, and then the domino spill over many of the countries in the Middle East, that theory has been challenged. Not only do these countries have similar cultural demographics and histories, but ultimately they are/were ruled by autocratic leaders, oppressed by police brutality, and embittered by unemployment. Most of all their youth have inspired each other and actively use social media. I think another strong uniting factor is Al Jazeera. Along with bloggers and the camera phone videos, Al Jazeera has encouraged and supported the overhaul of oppressive leaders in the Middle East..."
"Bad TV"
"When film and TV producers work on a media campaign for a social issue, be it raising HIV awareness or alleviating violence against children, their focus is on making their message get across. One of the main considerations has always been to have a final product that is well-shot, slick, and looks good. Development is about people and to get people’s attention is not always easy. Take the BBCWST's 'Condom Condom' mass media campaign in India....The commercials have superior animation, great acting, and detailed production design. These innovative ads have been spread around the world via viral links and Facebook; the campaign has been a huge success....But sometimes I wonder if high quality has any correlation with generating an audience..."
2. Bhumika Ghimire for:
"For a democracy to flourish and grow, independent media and freedom of speech is a must. Nowadays, most nations who believe in democracy agree with this notion. But, in honoring the media's role in a democracy, are we ignoring its limitations and putting more faith than necessary on its role? I hold a very special view of the media. For me it is a watchdog that will rise up and tell the truth even in difficult circumstances and is essentially not a business but a service. Over the years, this glorious image of the media has been hurt a number of times and now I am not that big of a fan. One example of how we may be over stating media's role and importance is what is happening to Dan Rather. Rather, legendary CBS anchor man and an excellent journalist, was forced out of CBS in a very bitter way..."
3. CharlesMafa for:
"Statutory media regulation not the answer to State-Media conflict"
"Zambian politicians must be forgiven for thinking that statutory media regulation is the answer to perceived differences between the state and the private media. As clearly noted by the OSCE media Self-Regulation Guidebook 'neither good laws nor ethics will ever satisfy the public about what the media do. The free media - even the quality media upset those targeted by its fact finding, by its opinions and simply by being pluralistic.' ...Enacting repressive laws that inhibit the growth of the media industry is not a solution in itself but a recipe for further differences. It should be noted that the media professionals are better placed to formulate minimum principles on ethics, accuracy, personal rights and so on, while preserving editorial rights on what to report and what opinions to express. Self - regulation is an assurance to uphold dialogue with the public..."
4. Erina for:
"Role of the Media in Promoting State Stability"
"...Traditionally, the government has the predominant role in protecting and promoting peace, security and stability. However, with the current technological advances in communications and satellite, the media plays a key role in shaping perceptions of people and setting the political agenda. In view of this, how does the media maintain their role as amplifiers and facilitators of spread of messages that discourage violence and appeal for peaceful co-existence? How can the media ensure that they are not used as mouthpieces for government and politician's propaganda? How can the media play a key role in providing a forum for dialogue and reconciliation?..."
5. Kris for:
"Locating invisible women in new media in global mass media gender assessments"
"The reveal-all about women in the media anticipated from the forthcoming release of the International Women's Media Foundation's report at the end of March this year may be somewhat outdated even as it is launched....Perhaps the IWMF study will give clues to the story-behind-the story of UNESCO's Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP)....In all its reports, including the most recent of 2010, GMMP tells that larger numbers of women in the media have not significantly impacted gender stereotyping and in fact have been replicating skewed representation of women to the public in news reports....The counter argument to that has been that training, ownership, decision-making and power structure are still discriminatory towards women and restrict female journalists and media managers from exercising the kind of leverage they should have over their working environments..."
6. Madeeha for two posts:
"Spinning the Story for Development"
"A few weeks ago I had the chance to meet Ethan Casey, an American journalist with a special interest in most things Pakistan....To help guide his travels through the post-flood situation, a common friend had organized a casual chat with a selection of people working in the media and development sector. It was interesting to find the conversation peppered with allusions to being gora - the overarching term encompassing white people across the world....Here, it served a dual purpose: establishing a sort of camaraderie, while accepting the existence of a barrier. I know I am an outsider, but am stepping outside my comfort zone to know more. Tell me..."
"When colleagues talked of ICT for development in a country where the electric supply is erratic at best, there were always those who were scathingly sceptical. Perhaps it was because they have long resented the slow digitization of everything, from books to conversations to relationships. Perhaps it was because they genuinely felt the developing world has considerable catching up to do in terms of basic, tangible development indicators, before worrying about the greater implications of cell-phones and Facebook. Seeing the wave of change sweeping over the Middle East has called for a serious questioning of the traditionalist’s stance towards these new-fangled tools. Not only have they proven to be catalysts for change that could otherwise take decades, but have also broken the myth that their influence is necessarily limited to a certain segment of the population..."
7. Shweta for:
"The group of 87 thousand and counting people who have hit like on this popular Facebook page are activists. They work a 9 to five job or homemakers or motivated and concerned organizations and agencies or even people who hate Islam....It does not matter! On this page, they are united as a cause and they have hit the like button! Much like the wearing of clothes is a fashion statement, the wearing of Like Buttons on your Facebook profile is your statement of the 'wearing these values'. The all unifying and integrating experience of our modern cyber lives has been captured in the world of Facebook, and its as yet under explored potential to be a change-maker...!"
8. tyokunbo for:
"A FLAME THAT BURNS VERY FAST"
"This is it, the definitive evidence of the relationship between the media, communication and development policy. In the international media today, Libya continues to experience the preview of a long-delayed change. Its youths have been awakened in a unique way by Egypt, Tunisia and the social media to fight for freedom, democratic empowerment and social change. This is indeed eureka moment. Nothing like this was ever expected when Egypt launched the Free Internet initiative in Jan 2002 to drive development. When it did, a 150% rise in internet usage occurred that year....Forget the camouflage of poverty and problematic autocratic governance: however much local people feared the police and the army that bullied and threatened them, they had no choice in the matter. The internet gave them the people's element..."
Please watch for, read, and comment on the additional blog posts that each of the above bloggers will be contributing. Just visit the Communication, Media, and Development Policy blog. The bloggers appreciate your engagement!
The "Top Two Controversial Bloggers" are:
9. ambika samarthya for:
"The African Al Jazeera" [Please see excerpt in #1, above]
10. Simply Suparnaa for:
"The decade gone by seems to have been one for the Indian media. The 4th estate stood tall upholding the righteous and delivering social justice where our judiciary seemed to have faltered. Through injustice, undelivered promises, procrastinating judiciary, questioned article of the penal code, ruling misogyny, the media held its head high. Justice as the masses would prefer was delivered through the media. Heard, accepted and acknowledged, loud and clear bellowing threw the print and the electronics..."
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