Voices of Africa

Short Synopsis

Voices of Africa Media Foundation is a new-media training organisation that empowers young African men and women to build and pursue a career as a reporter and to strengthen the media function in Africa.

Description/Treatment

Our Strengths

• Mobile phone camera rivals quality results of professional camera
• Barriers between interviewer and subject lowered by using mobile phone instead of camera
• Cultural and language barriers to the media lowered by working with local youth·         Talented, unemployed youth targeted
• Online and offline coaching and training by media professionals
• Online training platform creates a unique learning environment
• News stories uploaded to training platform via internet or mobile phone
• Building a marketplace for assignments through partnerships
• Providing visibility of local news published by talented reporters
• Creating a pool of professional independent community reporters 

Background

People in African communities are often not informed about issues that affect their daily lives. They may not speak the official language or lack the access to information.  Voices of Africa reporters are local young people with a vested interest in their own future and that of their community.  They speak the local languages and understand the currents of change that affect their neighbors. Voices of Africa assists young Africans in giving a voice to their community. 

Despite a growing interest in new media journalism, the number of African web journalists, photographers and film professionals lags far behind global norms. New technologies like the Internet and mobile telephony offer Africans a new set of tools to explore the issues that matter in their country. Mobile phones enable people to make quality video reports.

The experience of Voices of Africa indicates that the use of a mobile phone lowers the barriers that are present between professional photojournalists and their subjects.  People report that they feel much less intimidated by the camera phone and feel free to share their story.  

Vision

We firmly believe that a strong domestic media capacity contributes to a more balanced image of Africa at home and abroad and to local transparency.  By rooting this capacity in underserved communities reporters can prepare the ground for broader participation of the local community in the political process.    

Mission

Our mission is to strengthen media in Africa by encouraging young Africans to play an active part in reporting news about their communities. We want to achieve this by training the new generation of Africans to gain reporting and entrepreneurial skills to build and pursuit a career as community based reporters.  

Geographical Focus

While there is a large potential for the media as an agent of change in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is a lack of capacity in this sector. Therefore, Voices of Africa Media chooses to focus its activities on this region. We give priority to countries with high youth migration, high youth unemployment or vulnerability to conflict. In 2009 and 2010 we prioritize East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. Southern Africa: South Africa. West-Africa: Ghana and Cameroon. 

The African Media Development Initiative (BBC World Service Trust) reports that the African media sector’s priority as an agent of change within the development debate is surprisingly undervalued by the international community. We think that this catalyzing role will take shape in the local communities at grassroots level with limited capacity and limited access to the mainstream media. Low levels of professional, ethical, management and technical standards are reported consistently among media practitioners in the countries surveyed by AMDI, even in the mainstream media.  Voices of Africa will train relatively inexperienced young Africans to attain a sufficiently high standard using new media technology, mobile phones and internet, hands-on and distance training. 

Our approach

Voices of Africa Media Foundation uses interactive technology as a powerful reporting tool. Voices of Africa offers the opportunity to young jobless Africans with limited media experience to build a media career and earn their living.  Reporters are trained to tell us about their daily life and give a voice to local issues and hopes. They report about achievements, but also about negative events. They are able to comment on developments that are threatening and that controversial. Voices of Africa reporters are trained to give a voice to their community. 

Voices of Africa Media Foundation develops our own professional training magazines and DVDs. We train reporters in using mobile phone technology and creating objective news in the form of written and video reports. To add value to the training Voices of Africa  makes use of local professionals, online coaching and an interactive online training platform. In this virtual learning environment trainees can compare their output and learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The foundation forms partnerships with organizations to generate assignment for the trainees and to provide exposure for their news stories.   

Selection Criteria

Reporters are selected from rural and disadvantaged urban areas. A significant number of trainees are young women. The training is vocational; entry is possible with secondary education, sufficient grades and motivation.  Trainees speak local languages as well as English at sufficient level, are interested in camera techniques as well as reporting, come well recommended and are able to devote sufficient time to the 6-9 month training.

Partnerships

Voices of Africa Media Foundation works with local trainers, African training partners, content partners and media organizations.  

Voices of Africa Media Foundation works only with indigenous trainers with a professional media and photography background. The trainers participate in an intensive training by Voices of Africa Media Foundation.  

Training partners will help to identify and monitor suitable candidates and are able to provide connectivity and facilities for training. They contribute to the development of new training modules and may offer complementary training by their own staff.

• journalism schools
• film institutes
• media and development NGOs 

Content partners are able to offer resources and assignments to trainees in order to strengthen and broaden their thematic capacities. Examples of content partners of VOAMF are:

• gender NGO’s
• nature and environment NGO’s
• small and medium sized business organizations
• agricultural unions

Finally, we cooperate with third party media platforms to provide maximum exposure for the reports.