isummit 08

It's amazing how out of touch I sometimes feel now that I'm not working in New Media any more. Being a student means I have to find out what's happening out of my own initiative and I dont always have time to be on the lookout for new and exciting events, technologies or trends.

Today I came across news about the iSummit 08 happening from the 29th July - 1st August in Sapporo, Japan.



To quote their website: "Advancements in information and communication technology have, for the first time in human history, enabled a host of opportunities that have seen societies leapfrogging out of underdevelopment, artists and creators regaining control over their expressions and people around the world working on distributed projects that benefit all humankind.
The iSummit offers a picture of that promise - bringing together activists, change agents and new world social entrepreneurs to chart and reflect on a positive path for a more fair, more just, more creative world in the Information Age."

Sounds like its going to be a great meeting place of creative and technical minds who'll be thinking, debating and working towards an exciting vision of what ICTs can do and bring us.

Globalization influences policy

I'm in the middle of my maternity leave (our son is now 2 months old), but have started to read and think about my studies again. Was reading a paper I did before I went on leave and it made me realise how much globalization influences the way we live our lives on a daily basis, at the micro level.

Its fascinating how decisions made at the global level, at UN conferences for example influence the things we do daily. Environmental policy is probably the best example because of all the hype about carbon footprints, recycling and global warming - all issues addressed at the local level but which affect the way we live - from the shopping we do, the way we throw things away and the way we think about our next holiday.

We can no longer say that we aren't political beings - even if we dont want to be, we are all directly influenced by political decisions at the global and national level. Think about it!

Life in Leeds

I was going to write a long piece about globalization and policy, but thought I would share a bit of news about the city we moved to in May last year.

We have survived our first English winter, and were fortunate to have a bit of snow - something quite fun for people from South Africa.

Fortunately, the weather hasnt been as bad as everyone says, the worst part about winter here is the lack of sunlight and the really short days.

I have been working hard since September in doing my PhD through the Institute of Communication Studies at the University of Leeds. It has been challenging, but rewarding and I look forward to the next three years when I hope to complete my studies and move onto bigger and better things.

For now though, we are expecting our first baby, which is a real blessing. I probably wont be writing for a while because the baby is due on the 2nd March - less than 5 weeks aways!

(Roundhay Park on the day it snowed in Leeds)

I'll be back to studying full time in July, and hopefully go to SA in September to do some research, attend a conference and see family and friends. In the meantime, I've got the time to think about my research - The Role of the Media in ICT Policy Development in Kenya - and everything that it means.

Media stakeholders in ICT policy

I've been thinking about the different roles that the media can play in policy and it occurred to me that I've taken for granted the fact that the media SHOULD play a role in ICT policy. Perhaps the reason that there is so little research on the role of the media in media and ICT policy is because they have no interest in the policy?

Of course I don't really believe that. The media HAVE to play a role in media and ICT policy because it affects the work they do at so many levels - be it the political landscape they work in; the freedom of information, expression or distribution they have; or their relationship to their audiences and society. It is a difficult position the media find themselves in. On the one hand they are commercial enterprises trying to make as much money as possible by trading in information. On the other hand, they are perceived to be responsible for informing and educating society in an objective and impartial way (something I think is quite unreasonable, but still expected by society).

In order to influence policy in the best way possible, the media have to take both these roles into account and work towards balancing them in a way that ensures the policy fulfil's their interests as businesses, but also the interests of their audiences.

Just a few thoughts as I try to figure out my own ideas about the research I'm doing.

Postgraduate conference on the way

Having started as a full time PhD student at the Institute of Communications Study at the University of Leeds has meant not only many hours of reading and writing but also being involved in the ICS Postgraduate Conference. It was held for the first time last year and the students set quite a high precedent for future conferences.

The second conference will hopefully take place in June 2008 and while we are still contemplating the title and theme, it will be a great place for other postgraduate students to present their work, ideas and research. The really great part is that as a PhD student who presents at the conference you have an opportunity to present to a non-hostile audience of other PhD students, and you have your work reviewed by a member of ICS staff so you get great feedback.

Will keep you posted on developments.

Public Opinion. Does it exist today?

I've been doing some reading on public opinion for a paper I'm writing for my PhD and I got to thinking about whether there is really public opinion today. I'm using public opinion in the way the term was first used: a collective 'truth' or belief amongst a group of citizens and traditionally these came about in public meeting places. As these meeting places started to become obsolete, the media began to take up that mantle and convey public opinion (though its questionable whether it portrayed public opinion that was generated by the public).

So can we say there is such a thing as public opinion today? The mass media are all dominated by big business and conglomerates and if they are conveying 'public opinion' then it might be more like public profit. Can we say the Internet is the new meeting place for the public to generate their collective view? I'm not so sure. The blogosphere for sure is not a space of public opinion, its a few (and in the bigger scheme of things it really is a small number) ranters going on about their own personal issues and gripes, daily lives, life changing moments etc. There doesnt seem to be a collective voice and we dont really seem to be talking about anything of any real importance! Bring back Public Opinion.

Highway Africa 2007

For the first time in many years I've had to miss the biggest gathing of ICT journalists in Africa, the annual Highway Africa conference. Unfortunately I also haven't had much time to follow the goings-on so am not able to comment on the conference this year. I was invited to do some training before the conference, but due to the fact that I was registering for my PhD at the same time it was impossible to take up the opportunity (despite the fact that I really wanted to go).

The conference, which took place between 10 and 12 September in Grahamstown (South Africa) was always an interesting event. Not only was it a meeting place of media enthusiasts (journalists, owners, media scholars, civil society organisations), but also a meeting place of old friends - it always felt like a bit of a reunion because many of the same people would attend year after year. While this could lead to a bit of stagnation in terms of the ideas beings generated and debated, it also meant those attending could always find a familiar face amongst the delegates (not always something easy to do at conferences).

Looking through the list of speakers, I see many familiar faces, faces I would have liked to greet and meet up with again. And, surprisingly, many that haven't been on the programme before, who would have been equally exciting to greet and meet. Hopefully next year I'll be in attendence and can give my own account, but for now have to count on the writings of others.

The conference was, as usual, covered by its news agency (the Highway Africa News Agency, HANA) so you can read all about at their website. Unfortunately you have to register to read the full stories which is a pity and something I never really agreed with when newspapers or news organisations did it on their web content. Although there is no subscription fee, many people are opposed to the bit of time it takes to enter details for registering and are often deterred from doing so which is a pity.