At the end of the day and regardless of what career path you are tracing for yourself the bottomline

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At the end of the day and regardless of what
career path you are tracing for yourself the
bottom-line of any workshop is the possibility of
adding value to both yourself and the work that
you do. If there is any tool (or web of tools)
that can improve you and the work you do, it is
only wise to embrace such. Lets spend the next
few minutes considering the one tool that has
changed the way we live, work, and are remembered
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NewMedia
New Media Technologies and Journalism Practice
Gbenga Sesan Information Society Researcher URL
www.gbengasesan.com Blog www.gbengasesan.com/blog
eMail me_at_gbengasesan.com
World Bank/MRA Workshop on Access to Information
in Nigeria. Ostra Hall and Hotel, Nigeria.
February 6, 2006
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Journalism in Nigeria

• What can we do without journalists? Without you,
  we have only rumors, speculation and
  info-anarchy
• Journalism as the medium of historical
  documentation e.g. varying accounts of the
  civil war Cicero A man who does not know his
  history will forever remain a child
• Journalism as the bridge between government and
  the citizenry between people and democracy
• Journalism is the window of expression for
  businesses, initiatives, and information for the
  public domain
• Journalism in Nigeria has grown in areas such as
  data gathering/capture, publishing points,
  distribution, marketing and feedback
• The face of journalism is changing

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The New Economy

• The Information Age is revealing a complex
  convergence that is creating a society driven by
  ICTs
• Every profession is repositioning for improved
  relevance in the Information Society from
  Accounting (New Accounting) to Agriculture
  (Precision Agriculture), Computing (Information
  Sciences), and Journalism too!
• Africas response to the New Economy is
  responsible for our present situation
• The New Economy respects global citizens, not
  local champions
• This new paradigm is also shifting information
  availability standards from ASAP Reporting to
  Instant Reporting (I dont want information
  tomorrow, I want it now from whoever is able to
  make it available)

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Journalism and the New Economy

• Journalism is responding to the New Economy
  through the application of new technologies
• Media outfits that do not reposition risk
  irrelevance, in an age where history begins from
  the last microsecond
• Some of the new technologies being used in
  journalism practice include
• eMail Reduced cost (overall even though many
  consider initial equipment cost), faster and
  reliable communication
• Newsgroups Also known as mailing lists, and fast
  becoming source of information especially along
  professional lines for journalists
• Websites Any media house that does not have a
  website is not in the information business, it
  only sell historical data. Websites increase
  reach, improve marketing, scale up revenue and
  give instant feedback
• VoIP Long distance calls have crashed! Skype,
  Yahoo! and others
• IM/Chat Instant messaging from computers and
  mobile phones
• Mobile multipurpose devices All-in-one phones
  that handle voice/video recording, imaging, voice
  calls, browsing, and more
• Google Using search engines for information
  gathering

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Here Comes Blogging

• They are also compellingly addictive and
  threatening to emerge as a new brand of
  journalism -- Jody Raynsford, describing
  bloggers
• Sometime after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the
  web became the preferred place for information
  following an increase in the public's appetite
  for information, analysis and news, if only to
  make sense of the tragedy. Bloggers rose to
  prominence by feeding this desire
• Blog weB LOG. A series of updated posts on a
  web page in the form of a diary or journal, often
  including commentary on, and hypertext links to,
  other web sites. Posts are in chronological order
  and can contain anything from simple text, to
  music, images and even streamed video
• References www.journalism.co.uk/features/story604
  .html

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Wikipedia on Blogging
A blog is a website in which items are posted on
a regular basis and displayed in reverse
chronological order. The term blog is a shortened
form of weblog or web log. Authoring a blog,
maintaining a blog or adding an article to an
existing blog is called "blogging". Individual
articles on a blog are called "blog posts,"
"posts" or "entries". A person who posts these
entries is called a "blogger". A blog comprises
hypertext, images, and links (to other web pages
and to video, audio and other files). Blogs use a
conversational style of documentation. Often
blogs focus on a particular "area of interest",
such as Washington, D.C.'s political goings-on.
Some blogs discuss personal experiences. Blogs
can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services,
or they can be run using blog software on regular
web hosting services. In the early 21st Century,
blogging has quickly emerged as a popular and
important means of communication.
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Blogging 101

• The Decision to Blog Blogging requires
  commitment, and for journalists (more than mere
  mortals like me), people want to come back for
  fresh information
• Deciding Which Way To Go 3rd party hosting
  (www.blogspot.com, www.bloggers.com, Yahoo! 360,
  etc) or your own blog (installation required)
• Choosing Your Blogging Software
  WordPress/TypePad
• Installing Your Blogging Software Set up web
  space (domain name and hosting), download
  blogging software, create database, follow
  instructions
• Hello World Your first blog must be publicized!
• Keep Your Blog Going Be consistent, people need
  to know that youre serious about blogging
• Link Up To Other Bloggers Increase your
  visibility

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AfterWord

• The increase in the number of blogs and personal
  websites used to report news reveals a need for
  Journalism to embrace New Technologies in order
  to provide leadership in their own domain
• Instant news and citizen journalism is enabled by
  New Technologies, e.g. Omoyele Sowore (formerly
  of ElenduReports.com and now SaharaReporters.com)
  and his popular Gbenga Obasanjo interview
• I will be available during the next few days of
  the workshop to discuss new technology
  applications
• Lagos Digital Village will be glad to provide
  technical expertise towards the hosting of a
  Journalists Blogging Workshop or general
  Journalism and New Technologies Workshop
• Thank You!

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NewMedia
New Media Technologies and Journalism Practice
Gbenga Sesan Information Society Researcher URL
www.gbengasesan.com Blog www.gbengasesan.com/blog
eMail me_at_gbengasesan.com
World Bank/MRA Workshop on Access to Information
in Nigeria. Ostra Hall and Hotel, Nigeria.
February 6, 2006