Workshop brings more bloggers to Tanzania

Internet workshop for editors which was being held at Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre (TGDLC) in Dar es Salaam came to an end on Friday 14, November 2008.
Apparently the hectic week ended with satisfaction from participants, each boasted of having started a blog. Blogging ,to most participants was something associated with characters such as Muhidin Issa Michuuzi photojournalist working at government newspapers in Dar es Salaam another social development worker in Iringa,Maggid Mjengwa who are the two famous Tanzania bloggers.
However after this workshop the number of Tanzanian bloggers surged to about 13 more bloggers, something which can be fairly described a big achievement to the individual participants and the organizers of the work MISA Tan and not to mention, Peik Johansson of YLE Radio Finland who conducted the workshop.
According to conversations among the participants this workshop has been a big eye opener to most of the on how to maximize the use of internet facilities be it archiving contents and researching useful resources when writing features or news stories.
Indeed such workshops must be encouraged in the future for the advancement of journalism in Tanzania, this is the general opinion of most of the participants.

Blogging: The experience of Maggid Mjengwa

Prominent local blogger Maggid Mjengwa from Iringa took the morning of the last day of editors’ workshop on internet use at Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre in Dar es Salaam to share his blogging experience Workshop participants went through his blog mjengwamaggid.blogspot.com to remind themselves of old stories and pictures which may provide good background stories today especially for feature writers as well news reports back up contents. Obviously his three years old blog is rich enough with text and photographic contents of different categories from politics to social issues.
Participants learnt from Maggid that with a good blog one attracts many contacts who willingly ready to contribute to articles, news crews as well as pictures from different parts of the world certainly from Tanzanians in diaspora.

The mystery of building WTC 7 of New York

The story of World Trade Centre 7 in New York City, United States of America may sound a bit confusing to less keen internet users. This is a building located few meters from well publicized
Twin Tower World Trade Center which was razed to the ground in September 11, 2001 after a believed terrorist attack master minded by one , Saudi Arabia born, Osama bin Laden.
Few hours after the fall of the Twin Towers, the 47 stories tall, World Trade Centre 7 collapsed as it could not sustain the weight of debris from the over 100 stories from the nearby falling north tower of the Twin Towers. It is not clearly known why this building got baptized by the number “7” though this number appears in the original building with 47 stories to be replace by the new one with 7 stories after five years.
Both the Twin Towers and Building 7 also referred to as WTC7 were developed by Larry Silverstein and according to experts’ findings debris from collapsed WTC ignited fires from ground floors which eventually brought down WTC 7 to become the third sky scraper to be reduced to dust on September 11,2001
However the collapse of WTC 7 remains a mystery in USA architectural engineering as investigators claim that fires have never before destroyed steel skyscrapers .

Internet and the newsroom

The third day of editors attending a workshop on online journalism was probably more interesting as participants were involved in more practical assignments. This was the time when each participant had launched his or her own blog.
This is the day each one of us was able to do the posting to the blogs, at times causing a section of participants to ignore the instructor’s discussion. This is the same day when photographs started appearing in some blogs without the knowledge of the instructor, presumably this is and indicator that participants had picked up speed to learn more faster to the satisfaction of the instructor,Peik Johansson of YLE Radio Finland.
The day also brought participants to understand how useful was internet for journalists online if they knew how to use it properly.
What most of the participants learnt was that with the help of internet a journalist is able to find any information required only if he or she knew where to get it . Briefly most participants must have learnt that to be able benefit from internet one must identify what website contains what contents
Furthermore, from have been discussed for the past three days participants must have learnt that it is possible for and individual to start building own small goggle in the newsrooms or at home.

Internet Challenges to newspaper industry

The new age of Internet is indeed a challenge to newspaper industry all over the world and specifically in developing countries where information technology is yet to take a deep root.
The biggest advantage of Internet over newspapers is its speed and penetration to millions of recipients within seconds. For instance an incident happening in Dar es at noon may reach to global audience within seconds through Internet while the same will appear in the next day editions of newspapers which may reach up-country readers another day later.
With Internet it is easy to archive and retrieve news contents and therefore making it easier for reports to use background materials in their daily newsroom operations.
However newspaper have one option to Internet challenges by starting their own Internet sites from where they can run simultaneous business which support each other.
This is theory of convergence between these two news industries looks workable because in the first place it has the same operators.
Same reporters, photographers and editors working for print media may be used to carter for Internet news coverage.
It is from this background, Internet though seen as a threat to newspaper industry, taken for a second thought Internet is just a high technology to maximize newspaper dissemination and generate more income to news industry.
This being the case the same company will retain its old readership for the print media while on the other hand creating a.new digital constituent of Internet users.

Why Internet for Media houses

This blog is a fruit of Internet workshop for Editors and Trainers held in Dar es Salaam from November 10-14 at Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre (TGDLC).

The workshop organized jointly by MISA-Tanzania and VIKES Foundation (Finnish Foundation for Media, Communication and Development, in principle intends to introduce the editors how Internet has changed societies and the general community globally.
As it is an open secret that to most media houses Internet more as fashion than a business, this workshop has come at the right time and to the right people to get introduced to this technology which is now in control of world business in all aspects being advertised, marketing and selling of all sorts of merchandise.

Back to media houses which have for scores of years wasted their news contents for lack of proper archiving with Internet services through online publications their contents may be stored in bulk and be retrieved at button click.

From print media to online publication

My name is Lugano Uli Mbwina, a journalist by profession for the past 30 years. I got into the profession because of no other reason than that journalism was in my blood since my school age.
Most of the time I served in the profession for print media and when information technology swepted the industry for Online alternatives I decided cross from newspaper sub-editing to work as website editor.
It is from here , I believe I can further serve both local public and international readership more than I did in the print media.
My short stint of online publishing has shown that one archive and retrieve the contents/information more easily in computer servers while the same content reaches a large global.