In the last week I attended a conference of ‘Future Leaders of Nigeria’, and one of the facilitators made a very interesting statement, “Politicians do not value the number of followers you have on Twitter, they value the number of people you can bring to the table when it matters.” That proposition was proved beyond […]
For the past two weeks, most Angolans that frequent Facebook and other social media sites viewed and shared two particularly gruesome videos. One showed prison officials severely beating incarcerated men in the Comarca de Viana (Viana Jail), while the other, even more heinous, showed several men brutally beating and abusing two women who had allegedly […]
Levi-Strauss writes of a Native American people for whom every dream has a hidden sexual meaning, except explicitly sexual dreams, for which it is imperative that non-sexual interpretations be found. I am reaching for an Oscar Wilde aphorism here. Everything is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power. The Freudian in me demurs against […]
When Bingu wa Mutharika was hospitalised in April it was at first extremely difficult to find reliable information about either his personal condition or the high drama of political theatre that was unfolding. By far the best place to go for this turned out to be Twitter, where a number of Malawian reporters posted live […]
It may come across as self-indulgent and somewhat presumptuous that I named the original version of Africa is a Country “The Leo Africanus.” But it was also a fortuitous choice for a blog name that helped me initially draw links between the Early Modern “Moorish diplomat,” who similarly reported on the wonders of Africa to […]
A couple of weeks back I had the privilege of being able to bring together a few of the leading lights in social media in eastern and southern Africa, for a discussion about the role of social media in health and rights activism. The panel formed part of a meeting titled OpenForum 2012 – Money, […]
What is the nature of the Arab Revolution? Why did it start and where is it headed? Most important, what is the potential for the emergence of new forms of political democracy, social equality, and regional autonomy in the Arab world? Let me introduce my position by stating what the Arab Revolution is not.
Boima blogged here recently about UNICEF’s efforts to raise awareness about the drought in the Sahel; what he described as “a step in the right direction towards facilitating genuine empathy, and away from the sensationalistic portrayals that have come to define awareness campaigns.” Then there are campaigns like this one by the French Action contre […]
This is just a reminder to not forget that we also have a new @Africasacountry account on Twitter where we tweet and retweet media criticism and analysis as well as new music, sports, arts and photography. Follow us there. The same goes for our Facebook page. Like us there too.
It’s that time of year again. The students in my required Media and Culture course at The New School (I have a day job yes) just uploaded their final projects–a short documentary or commentary piece (limit under 5 minutes)–online. Here’s one of them. Student Erik Luers debates the decision by mainstream media organizations to show […]
