Dateline Berlin 06/04/07 As Germans ‘rumble in the jungle’ before the G8 Summit 2007, the TED Global 2007 Conference in Arusha, Tanzania gets down to business
Definition of the German term ‘autonomen’ (courtesy Spiegel Online)
The label "autonomen" refers to radical libertarian and anarchist groups in Germany, though it doesn't refer to a specific, organized group. Like many on Germany's well-established, left-wing fringe, the autonomen grew out of the leftist movement in the 1960s and 1970s. They often take part in demonstrations against atomic energy and also frequently join peace marches. They are not always welcome participants in such demonstrations due to their willingness to participate in violence. Indeed, they have also been called the "black block" because of their tendency to wear all black and to cover their faces with black masks during demonstrations to avoid being identified by the authorities. While autonomen generally recognize that complete independence of social networks is not possible, they reject outside influence as much as possible. The autonomen are considered potentially the most violent of the anti-G-8 activists and were likely behind the rioting on Saturday afternoon in Rostock.
The 2007 Rostock G8 Riots by the numbers
Approximately 1000 people have been injured, many seriously including 433 police officers and 520+ demonstrators. 130 people were arrested, 10 people were still being held in custody as of this writing, all others were released. No deaths have been reported… yet. The German government’s hard work to make the G8 Summit at Heiligendamm a success has been torpedoed by its own citizens at a cost of more than 100 million Euros and lots of injured people before the gates even open on the main event Wednesday, June 6th.
Meanwhile, down toward the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley in Arusha, Tanzania a kinder, gentler type of world event is taking place - Africa: The Next Chapter.
People who have a deep interest in really providing needed assistance to Africans are getting down to business in Tanzania. The TED Global 2007 Conference – Africa: The Next Chapter opens in Arusha today and the international media will pay little attention to this event that holds more promise for Africa’s future than that silly circus east of the Elbe River here in Germany.
"Negative images of Africa dominate the news: famine and disease, conflict and corruption. But Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the former Finance Minister of Nigeria, says there's a less-told story unfolding in many African nations: one of reform, economic growth and business opportunity. Cracking down on corruption -- and the perception of corruption -- will be the key to its success She tells how high-ranking Nigerian officials taking money illicitly have been jailed, and how citizens and prospective business partners are getting at least a partial picture now of where money flows. "
Wasn’t that nice and informative? I do have lots of questions regarding that fine presentation by Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, especially since she left the government of former Nigerian President Obasanjo BEFORE the historic elections went down in Nigeria last month that has received the scorn and outrage of so many groups and governments. But that is a matter for another day.
The TED Blog’s Hot Topic of the Day is a scheduled talk to be given by the renowned economist and educator Dr. George Ayittey. ‘Looking back to look forward’ is the title of his presentation to the TED Global 2007 Arusha audience today and should be available at TED Talks by mid-summer 2007. In a TED questionnaire sent out to Dr. George Ayittey months before the opening of the Arusha Conference he responded in a 6-page document opening with the following:
CONTROVERSY. But my admirers refer to me as “unorthodox,” “unscripted” or “The Cutlass (machete),” who slashes through the thicket of suffocating platitudes and excuses to deliver the bitter truth about post colonial Africa.” Personally, I regard myself as an intellectual “rebel,” kicking against the old “colonialism-imperialism paradigm” which has landed Africa in a conundrum. By this paradigm, everything wrong with Africa is the fault of somebody else -- hostile external forces (Western colonialism, imperialism, the World Bank, etc.) and never the fault of misguided leadership. Witness Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. I am known for pushing the view that the old paradigm is now obsolete. It is kaput. We need a new way of thinking or a new paradigm that stresses the importance of internal factors as well. For example, brutal political tyranny, arrant economic mismanage, rampant corruption and senseless civil wars have nothing to do with artificial colonial borders or Western imperialism. Rebel leaders do not seek to redraw boundaries; they head straight to the capital city because that’s where power lies.
What are you working on now?
To save Zimbabwe from implosion. We hope to achieve peaceful change in Zimbabwe through the convocation of a “Sovereign National Conference.” It is the same mechanism (the Convention for a Democratic South Africa -- CODESA) which was used to dismantle apartheid in South Africa. If it worked in South Africa, then it will work in Zimbabwe.
End excerpt from TED Blog post ____________________________
Throughout the week of the G8 Summit 2007 here in Germany I will be reporting on what is being discussed and blogged about at the TED Global Conference in Tanzania and comparing that with the international media coverage of the Africa Agenda at the G8 Summit 2007. Please do explore the TED and TED Conferences websites to learn more about this important foundation and their work with people in Africa and around the world.
Resources on the TED Global Conference 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania
Businessweek March 12, 2007: The Talk of TED by Jessi Hempel The California conference of entrepreneurs, scientists, celebs, and politicians highlights the environment, Rwanda, and war photos, among other topics
Additional information about the 1992 Rostock Riots
Note: this is first of a rush two-part article on the 2007 Nigerian state and presidential elections. I’ll clean up any spelling errors and add tags and stuff tomorrow.
This will be a big weekend for national elections in both Europe and Africa as the voters of France and Nigeria go to the polls to elect their next president. Two elections couldn’t be more different in terms of fairness and transparency and public order in carrying out the most important right of citizens living in a democratic country, the right to choose one’s political leaders.
The international media networks have been focusing a great deal on both elections. CNN International is rolling out massive coverage of the French elections with reporting by its top foreign correspondents and anchors and including coverage by some high-profile French blog authors. Whereas the CNN coverage of the Nigerian elections on their website and on-the-air shows clearly where the CNN network executives have placed their news reporting priorities this month (Hint: it ain’t in Nigeria, that’s for sure).
I’m surprised that CNNI’s Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange and Inside Africa program host Femi Oke have not been reporting daily from Nigeria about the elections since the hotly debated coverage of the Niger Delta militia story last February and I am surprised that CNN has chosen not to devote more resources and reporters to cover these critical elections in Africa’s most populous and arguably most important nation. One out of every five Africans hails from Nigeria and what happens there is important. Inside Africa is sure to cover the Nigerian elections this weekend as the program’s host Femi Oke is a British born-and-bred Nigerian-European.
BBC Online has been publishing a series of in-depth articles on the Nigerian elections including the debacle last Saturday following the state parliamentary/gubernatorial polls and the growing anxiety and tension over this Saturday’s presidential polls. The comparison of coverage from the BBC vs. that of CNN on the Nigerian 2007 elections is rather stark___ and for many CNNI viewers it should also be very embarrassing.
I cannot think of any one group of people from an African nation that have been more influential and active in the growth of the blogosphere over the past 3-4 years than the Nigerian blog authors and their readers worldwide. When I want to learn the latest news about what’s happening down in Nigeria I automatically check with high-profile bloggers Imnakoya of Grandiose Parlor, Chippla Vandu of Chippla’s Blog, and Sokari Erkine of Black Looks. There are many, many more good online authors who hail from Nigeria and/or write extensively about Nigeria but these three people are my first GoTo bloggers for information about the country. Tobias Eigen of Saidia.org wrote about Nigerian blog authors covering the elections in his Blueprint for a Nigerian Civil Society Election Blog post and one should not miss Nigerianbloggers.com and the The Nigerian Village Square for the latest news and opinions.
What may not be so well known to authors and readers throughout the blogosphere is the Nigerian Election Hotline initiative started by Akwe Amosu of the Open Society Institute in Washington, D.C. to cover the ongoing elections and post-election news in Nigeria. Akwe Amosu (bio) is a Senior Policy Analyst on Africa at the Open Society Institute (see *1) and has over 20 years experience in journalism, broadcasting and publishing of Africa news and affairs. Akwe joined allAfrica.com. a leading online news and news aggregator network, as its founding executive editor in 2000 and has many more outstanding accomplishments in her professional career.
Akwe wrote in an email distributed to select Africa/African blog authors on April 17th:
Please check out Nigeria Election Hotline's stories and link to them if/when you feel so moved... we put this project together to help ensure a platform for stories that might not otherwise make it into the mainstream. The content on NEH is also published by allAfrica.com. There is an RSS link to make access easy. Akwe
The Nigerian Election Hotline news website mission statement reads as follows:
Nigeria Election Hotline is a news website that aims to publish stories on the 2007 vote that might not otherwise reach the reading public. Despite a vibrant tradition of independent journalism, many Nigerian journalists are concerned at the level of interference in the media by political interests who are seeking to control the flow of information in the press. Nigeria Election Hotline is an effort to make sure that Nigerian voters have access to the information they need to make an informed choice at the polls. Nigeria Election Hotline is moderated by the newsletter Africa Confidential and funded by the Open Society Institute. It is written by a team of correspondents from throughout the Federation. Contributions are welcomed. [End]
So my tip to Africa’s and the rest of the world’s best citizen journalists, blog authors, aspiring online journalists and media producers is, “Don’t be stupid, help these people out and quick. How often do we get a chance at this level of exposure and support to speak our minds? Zak-zak!”
*1- The Open Society Institute (OSI) is a private operating and grant-making foundation setup to “to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to support the rule of law, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI works to build alliances across borders and continents on issues such as combating corruption and rights abuses.” OSI is a member of the Soros Foundation network created by the famous entrepreneur, political activist and social philanthropist George Soros. You can read more at the website http://www.soros.org/.
Part 2 coming very soon: The Battle for Nigeria – views from America’s news media gatekeepers
I woke up early on Sunday morning, February 18th, just to see the International Correspondents episode referenced in my post below. Uche Nworah and I have already had an "off the blog" communication about his experience on the program and I really appreciate that privelage.
As I have expressed to Uche in a message today, unfortunately the CNN anchor Becky Anderson and the senior Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange chose to defend CNN's position in the Government of Nigeria vs. CNN row instead of addressing the much more important issues of biased reporting in the international news media and press toward sub-Saharan African governments and people.
Uche's appearance on the program was approximately 8-10 minutes long before Becky Anderson quickly moved on to the next subject (freedom of the press in Hong Kong & China). Time is money you know, especially in the cable and broadcast TV industry. Perhaps the program's regular host, Fionnuala Sweeney, would have given the poor guy more time to present his views? Nah, I doubt it.
Please note that I've also made corrections to the spelling of Uche's last name in the post below. That's Uche Nworah, N-W-O-R-A-H. Thank's Imnakoya for the tip-off about my error in the original post.
Original text from Feb. 17th: Some of you may remember my January 2007 post about “nation branding in sub-Saharan Africa” where I wrote about our fellow blogger Emeka Okafor of Africa Unchained & Timbuktu Chronicles appearing on CNN Inside Africa. Well today I received this really nice message from Uche Nworah (profile), author of the book The Long Harmattan Season and well-known online journalist, writer and critic. Uche authored the November 2006 report on the Nigeria – The Heart of Africa advertising campaign titled “Re-branding Nigeria: Critical Perspectives on the Heart of Africa Image Project”. I quoted from this report toward the end of my post about nation branding and you should also read his April 2005 post Nigeria As A Brand over at the Nigerian Village Square.
CNN International Correspondents, “a program that brings together some of the worlds leading journalists, editiors, media figures to discuss the top stories and critique the current media landscape” will be featuring a discussion between Uche Nworah, Jeff Koinange, and Becky Anderson about international media coverage of Africa. You can check the program schedule for your local area at the CNN International Correspondents website. The program has already aired in Europe today but repeats tomorrow morning, February 18, at 07:30 CET. Readers in North America still have time to catch the Saturday airing of International Correspondents starting at 11:00 EST. If you miss the show this weekend you can read the transcript over at the CNN website after it has been transcribed and published (takes forever).
Uche has published a post about his appearance on International Correspondents at the Nigerian Village titled “What Will You Do or Say”. I also recommend Uche’s article re: biased mainstream media coverage of stories and news about Africa titled “Global Media Coverage and Michael Peel’s Africa”.
Since this is a Heads Up post for my readers and fellow blog authors I’ll leave it at that for today. Checkout International Correspondents this weekend and see if Uche can “rein-in Becky Anderson” and take control of the interview. Should be a very interesting half-hour show. Ciao. I’m off to Florence in search of Alessandro dé Medici, the Black Prince.
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