Yesterday was the first One World Media Festival at UCL London. I attended the Keynote ‘Creating Global Conversation’ a discussion with Peter Barron, Google’s Director of External Relations in Europe and Mark Kaigwa, a digital and media ‘guru’ from Nairobi. The session was chaired by Marieme Jamme, Curator at Africa Gathering.
The session’s main focus was on how technology and journalism can be used to help achieve better global conversations around the world. Personally, I felt that the session was biased a bit too much towards tech change and not how journalists could use it. The best part of the session for me was the range of case studies such as Beba Pay, Google Loon and BRCK,
Below are some recordings of the sessions, the sound quality is not great but with headphones you can hear the content fine. Here are some Key Takeaways:
– Digital and social media enables exchange of information across borders to help global conversation and empower the global South
– “A kid in Africa potentially has access to more information these days than the President of the USA 15 years ao.”
– Access to the internet in Africa is improving and we are not far away from the $20 smartphone, but indigenous content is still a problem.”
– Mobile phones in Kenya are not considered new media. They are fundamental for the way people communicate and purchase goods.
– The next big step in Africa is getting smartphones in to the hands of the continent and helping create indigenous content and conversations
– NGOs need to enable more agency and help create more narratives from African people
– Who is responsible for NGO communications and how can we change it?
– What can we do about the silent voice of poor and rural communities?
– Traditional media, especially radio, is still massively important for development communication.
Voice Recordings
World World Media Festival Keynote Introduction
One World Media Festival Keynote – Peter Barron
One World Media Festival Keynote – Mark Kaigwa
One World Media Festival Keynote – Discussion
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