Voice 1
Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ruby Jones,
Voice 2
And I'm Steve Myersco. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
‘This week was really difficult. I was always afraid because I did not know which way to go back home after work. I did not want to be involved in the riots. It was especially hard on Friday. On that day the riots were in the area where I live.'
Voice 1
These are the words of Ariniaina. She is reporting about life in her community. She lives in Madagascar, the island country off the south east coast of Africa. Ariniaina is just a normal citizen of Madagascar. Today's Spotlight looks at how people like Ariniaina are now reporting the news.
Voice 2
Madagascar has experienced a lot of trouble recently. A new leader now controls the country. This happened because many people were unhappy with the former president. There was violence in some areas. The military then helped the new leader to take control.
Voice 1
Ariniaina is one of a number of people from Madagascar who are writing about events in their country. These writers want people around the world to know what is happening. So, they use the internet. Ariniaina is a blogger. She has her own website where she records her thoughts and opinion on things that are happening around her. She writes,
Voice 3
‘When I was younger, I loved writing stories and poems. I dreamed of becoming a reporter and working with a camera. Since then I have studied and now work in a very different job. I was about to forget this dream. But now we have the internet, I was able to create this blog. I thank all the people who encouraged me in this project: FOKO, Tahina, Andry...'
Voice 2
Tahina and Andry are two of the many other bloggers in Madagascar. They are linked to a group called FOKO Madagascar. This group aims to tell people around the world what is happening in their country. One of the ways it does this is through a project called FOKO Blog Club. This encourages people to write blogs. Lova Rakotomalala is one of the people who manages FOKO Madagascar. He describes how the club works,
Voice 4
‘We find people who exchange opinions about Madagascar in internet discussion groups. Then we ask them to come to our class. There, they learn to create their own blogs. These blogs help them to organise their thoughts and express themselves... The other important thing we do is to bring that blog to more people. We link it to Rising Voices and Global Voices.'
Voice 1
Rising Voices is a project that supports new bloggers from many parts of the world. It works particularly with communities that the world does not normally hear about. Rising Voices is a project of Global Voices. Global Voices is an international organisation that helps people everywhere to make their voices heard. It uses the internet to find what people are writing. Then it tells the public about these blogs. The organisation depends on the work of its members. Most of these workers are not paid. Global Voices says,
Voice 5
‘These amazing people are bloggers. They live in various countries around the world. They understand the full meaning and importance of information being written every day from their countries. They are helping us to make sense of it all. They are also making known the things that bloggers are saying. These may be things that the main news organisations are not reporting.'
Voice 2
So, the internet is helping people report the news from where they are in the world. In some countries this can be difficult to do. Some governments restrict what news organisations can report. But the internet has given more power to citizens. They can become news writers - journalists - by reporting the news on the internet. These people are called citizen journalists.
Voice 1
Citizen journalism is a new kind of journalism. It is different to traditional journalism in several ways. The reporters are not paid to report the news. They are just local people. They often do not have any training in news reporting. So some people say that citizen journalism is not as trustworthy as normal journalism. That is why Global Voices tries to make sure citizen journalists' reports are honest. Citizen journalism is helping in places like Madagascar. Here, the government stopped some news organisations from broadcasting. But the internet gave people the freedom to report the news.
Voice 2
The United Nations document on human rights states that everyone should have the right to report freely. But more work is needed to protect this right around the world. The press - the organisations that report the news - are often not free to report what they want.
Voice 1
Every year, people celebrate the third of May as World Press Freedom Day. This day helps to show the importance of people's right to report the news. World Press Freedom Day was the United Nations' idea. Ban Ki-Moon is the secretary-general of the UN. He says that press freedom is an important part of a free life.
Voice 6
‘Just as water is necessary for life to grow, we need knowledge so that we can imagine and change. When information flows freely, people are given the tools to take control of their lives. When the flow of information is restricted we are less able to do the things we could normally do.'
Voice 2
But why did the United Nations choose May the third as World Press Freedom Day? Well, it is the anniversary of an event that took place in another African country - Namibia.
Voice 1
The third of May is the anniversary of the Treaty of Windhoek. In 1991 a group of African countries came to an agreement. They decided to give news organisations the freedom to report the news. This is because they wanted to help build freedom and democracy in the continent. This led to other countries in the world signing similar agreements.
Voice 2
Many people believe that that the freedom to report the news is a key part of living in a free country. The internet is now helping to give this freedom to reporters. This freedom is not just something for traditional journalists to enjoy. It is also given to citizen journalists. These are normal people who can use the internet and are willing to write. The bloggers in Madagascar are just one example of a group of citizen journalists. There are many more all over the world. There may be some where you live. If not, maybe you could be the first!
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