Zuckerman, who currently serves as a fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society (a research center at Harvard Law School), is one of the founders of the Global Voices Online weblog initiative. He also runs the 'My heart's in Accra' weblog, in which he writes about how new media can be used in developing countries.

I believe that you have introduced the concept of 'Africa 2.0'. Can you explain what this means?

“I don't think I'm actually responsible for that term - it was likely coined by one of the speakers or hosts of the TED Global conference in Arusha, earlier this year. The term refers to a need for a new understanding of Africa, one that doesn't focus solely on poverty, disease and civil strife. There's another Africa, filled with entrepreneurs and activists bent on changing the continent, creating economic opportunities and healthy societies. The conference in Arusha last summer focused on this vision of Africa Rising, rather than the older vision of Africa in trouble.”

What is your opinion on blogging in Africa today?
 
“The current situation in Kenya shows just how important bloggers can be in an African context. During strife over the disputed elections, the government banned broadcast media. Bloggers responded by reporting news in realtime and using their sites to broadcast to the nation and the world. There are hundreds of blogs in Kenya and the Kenyan diaspora, a country that's very thoroughly embraced blogging.

In nations like Burkina Faso, there might be only a couple dozen. There are probably 10,000 or more blogs on the continent at present, including South Africa, which has a rich and robust blogosphere. Not all are really interesting to the general public - some are mostly intended to be read by friends and family. But the best of African blogs can compete with the mainstream press for quality of reporting and for interesting, well-reasoned opinion.”
  
It is often said that the mobile phone revolution in Africa will stimulate democracy in the continent. Do you agree?

“Unfortunately, you can't drop mobile phones into a country and wait for democracy to flourish. They're a useful tool for opening societies, but they're not a sufficient condition to democratize a nation. Mobiles are useful because they're the perfect complement to broadcast media. In most African nations, radio is still the most powerful source of information - unfortunately, radio is a one-way, listen only medium.

The mobile phone changes that dynamic, allowing people to collaborate in the production of radio. Throughout the continent, call-in shows that invite citizens to talk to political leaders offer a form of direct democratic participation that more developed nations may be envious of. Mobile phones also enable ordinary citizens to perform "sousveillance" - surveillance from the bottom up. This has become important in monitoring elections - citizens with mobile phones can call radio stations and report situations where they are prevented from voting.”
  
What role do you see for citizen journalists in Africa?

“I think citizen media will be critical in helping non-Africans connect more closely to African stories. I think that bloggers and other citizen authors offer readers the opinion to connect with an author as well as with a story, and that this may build human connections to stories that otherwise might be ignored or missed.
  
I also think that citizen reporters will help fill the gaps, reporting on places reporters aren't or can't be. For example, my friend and colleague Juliana Rotich was in Eldoret during the church fire and was able to offer reports from the ground - there were very few international journalists in town. Citizen media expands our reach and helps media cover more of the globe.”
  
Which major developments do you foresee for the coming years concerning new media in Africa?

“I think you'll see major newspapers and newswires begin to rely more heavily on citizen media. I also think that you'll see citizen media become more pervasive as 3G mobile technology gets cheaper and people can record directly from their phones. We need major technical innovation in making it easier for people to create text from phones, however - without text, video and audio don't have the influence we want and need them to have, as they aren't indexed in search engines.”

More information about the Fill the Gap Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 11 January.

Keywords:  ict telecom kenya burkina_faso society