Rather than arguing about what social media can’t do, focus on what it can, urges Aaron Bady writing for MIT’s Technology Review this week. He looks at the role of tools like Twitter and Facebook in the Egyptian revolution, and without giving credit to them for “starting” the revolution, or even “causing” the revolution, he makes a thoughtful, reasoned argument for appreciating what they can do. He counters arguments from the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, that social media organising revolves around ‘weak ties,’ by suggesting that sometimes weak ties are exactly what you need to keep people working together – and not getting bogged down in disagreements over the detail.

Read more here – It’s worth it.

The first edition of Tedx was launched in Harare under the name Tedx Harare. This independently organised event was packed with interesting speakers, music performances and Tedtalk videos. The idea of TED started 25 years ago in USA to create spaces for idea sharing and discussions. And finally it has now reached Zimbabwe.

The speakers included some of Zimbabwe’s researchers, entrepreneurs and artists and they all lived up to expectations with inspirational and stimulating performances and presentations. The presentations created an environment where everything was just free from any political and religious agenda. Zimbabwe is awash with so much talent that it begs the question how and where we are getting it wrong as a country. Among the most inspirational presentations was the one done by researcher and academic Oswald Jumira. Oswald explored and shared ideas on how we can make technology work for the next generation and us. He talked on how technology creates challenges, which can be turned into opportunities and make our country move forward and compete in the global village. In the presentation he emphasized the need for government, companies and individuals to invest in technology since it strengthens the future of the next generation.

In one of the Tedtalk videos, Chimamanda Adichie explores the Danger of a Single Story. This Tedtalk got me thinking especially on the way news is reported in Zimbabwe by different newspapers and organisations in mainstream media. A good example of the danger of a single story is how election campaigning in Zimbabwe has caused a lot of stereotyping among citizens. One lesson to learn from this presentation is not to make early judgements on a particular situation or story and not to work on assumptions. This was a wonderful way of educating people about the single story perspective.

Live music performances during the breaks from Tina Watyoka added more life to the event. The other presenters who left the audiences with questions and inspirational answers included Max Soutter and Sarah Norman.

The next edition Tedx Harare is expected to be bigger with more speakers coming to share their ideas and innovative skills with the people of Zimbabwe.

The fabrication of stories to bring out and portray a certain issue inclined to a political party is now common in the local newspapers, both private and state owned. I have recently been seen a trend in the media. When an event or something transpires we seem to get similar headlines in the newspapers. An example is that when Energy Minister Mangoma was acquitted. These were the various headlines carried by Zimbabwean papers on 19 July 2011, for example: The Herald carried the story as ‘Mangoma freed as AG drops charges’ and in The Daily News, the story was ‘Mangoma case crumbles’. This shows at least some validity and honesty in the story that the Energy Minister had indeed been acquitted.

But it doesn’t necessarily mean we expect to see similar headlines everyday in our newspapers. But we expect to read credible and reliable information. If a media house or newspaper publishes a story of its own, this can be attributed to the good investigative skills the journalists working for that paper have.

A recent fabricated story is that by Zimpapers in the Sunday Mail of July 24, 2011 of the government’s spending. The story read ‘The high flying Prime Minister of Zimbabwe’ where it said Prime Minister’s Office had the highest expenditure on Government travel.

This story came in two days before the Finance Minister Biti could deliver a statement on Mid-Term Fiscal Policy statement which then revealed the truth about government’s spending. In a recent public forum with Professor Welshman Ncube he did have something to say about the media in Zimbabwe particularly regarding this story. He described the state owned paper as being an agent of preempting stories before their actual event, so as to cause confusion in the public.

This is so true because imagine being an ordinary citizen who from his/her earnings cannot afford to purchase a daily newspaper and has no access to the Internet to read online news. People tend to feed themselves with headlines. I have seen quite a number of people in the morning who stand by newspaper vendors and read headlines and move on. I wonder if they will at least be able to get a copy during the day and read the rest of the story but the chances are slim. Having read a headline that the Prime Minister’s Office is on the top list of government travel spending on Sunday and reading the actual story of who tops the list surely it leaves people confused over who is telling the truth.

There are times when one truly wonders when this will come to an end. We are tired of having to read stories and then question their validity and reliability.

This project is created by enthusiasts with purpose to broadcast artistic and social statements, thoughts and texts in forms that are independent of institutions, galleries and museums: more

Much noise has been made about Pastor Makandiwa’s latest innovative idea of getting linked to his followers. Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa founder of United Families International (UFI) ministries popularly known as the “The Man of God” by his followers recently launched an airtime recharge card called Christian Spiritual Link. With this recharge card one can communicate directly to the prophet by calling him to get over-the-phone prophecies and spiritual messages. The airtime card can be found in denominations of $3 and $6. Having the gift of delivering people from the bondage of Satan, Pastor Emmanuel Makandiwa now commands a huge following to the extent that he can fill the 60 000 seater National Sports Stadium for a single service. With such a huge following almost everyone would be willing to have personal contact with the Pastor. Thumbs up to the genius minds behind the idea.

While this is an innovative business venture it also comes with its own irregularities. With its special functions accessing any cellphone network in the country the Spiritual Link recharge card has drawn attention from the Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) leading to an investigation over the legality of this recharge card. On the back of the card, the leading three cellphone service companies can offer recharge platform numbers arousing speculation that maybe this was a partnership deal with these companies. POTRAZ’s investigations to establish whether there was contravention of the Telecommunications Act comes at a time when some papers have suggested that Pastor Makandiwa has fled the country. Its now up to the authorities to determine whether there was any breach of the law but I believe the Spiritual Link is really going to propel Pastor Makandiwa to the prosperity that he preaches in his sermons.

PRESS RELEASE

A Temporary Inconvenience
By Andrew Mutandwa

Poignant poetry collection distils the lonely ache of displacement experienced by those forced to flee political turmoil in their homeland.

Andrew Mutandwa’s debut book of poetry charts the struggle to escape oppression and the difficulties the journey presents to those forced from their homes, lives and families by domestic troubles. This heart-wrenching volume initially draws on the harrowing experiences faced by those living in the iron grip of a brutal regime. Contracting the pain and suffering of oppressed faceless millions into the compelling testament of one man, the poems evoke the violence of life lived under a military dictatorship. Swinging from the loss of self at home to the loss of self abroad, the poetry brings to light the traumatic erosion of individual identity that confronts refugees who flee one type of violence only to be confronted with another deeper violence – the defacement of individual identity and the erosion of cultural expression amid the lonely diaspora. This powerfully moving collection lays bare the pain and pathos of politically displaced individuals, articulating the lifelong effects of what initially seems like a temporary inconvenience.

With striking realism Andrew Mutandwa portrays the emotional battle to carve out a new home for one’s family when ‘home’ becomes a hostile and dangerous place. Providing an insight into the erosion of freedom in Zimbabwe, Mutandwa offers a powerful testament to the bravery of individuals in the African diaspora and of displaced peoples around the world. Providing a much needed exposition of the cultural tensions that repeatedly rock Africa to the core, A Temporary Inconvenience is a must-read for anyone who wishes to understand why this rich land is failing its own progeny.

About the Author: Andrew Mutandwa is a former civil servant, diplomat and journalist who has specialised in international development, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and human rights issues. He was in the first group of journalists to be formally trained when Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980. He currently lives in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

The book is currently being sold on line through a number of distributors such as Amazon, WH Smith, Waterstones, Barnes & Noble, and Author House.