One-on-One
African Media & the 'Digital Divide'
By Lango Deen
Jun 16, 2003, 14:04

Sandra Nyaira was one of three winners of last year's International Women's Media Foundation Courage in Journalism Awards ( http://www.iwmf.org/ ). Born the eldest of six children in Zimbabwe in 1974, Nyaira graduated in mass communications from Harare Polytechnic, got a job almost immediately with a government-owned chain, but left after five months to work for Zimbabwe Inter-Africa News Agency (ZIANA) also state-run. She worked there for nearly three years, during which time she received four national awards for excellence in journalism and a second prize from Reuters for her feature writing. By 1997, she had become ZIANA's youngest bureau chief. USBE Online spoke to Nyaira when she flew to the U.S. recently to receive her award. She presently is taking a course in Internet-based journalism.
 
USBE: What are the new media challenges facing journalists in Zimbabwe?

Nyaira: Not every journalist has access to the Internet; it really is difficult. But, there are newsrooms coming up that provide [each] journalist with a computer. I know it is very different from what happens here where all new media technologies are readily available. At the Daily News we do have computers, Web-based papers, and you can search for information on the Internet, but there are challenges like: whether you'll be able to look for the right information using the available search engine data and being able to differentiate between information. It has been good for us to have Web-based papers and to access information because it makes it easier for us to work and more difficult for the government to control what goes in the papers and what doesn't. A long time ago it would have been easier for government to control information that comes in and goes out of the country. It really has been good for us.

USBE: How are journalists meeting the challenges?

Nyaira: They are coming up with, for instance, the Media Institute for Southern Africa and the Federation of African Women Journalists and other unions that support journalists to actually meet some of these challenges in the media. What we have in Zimbabwe is a situation where the government is trying by all means to make it really difficult for us to operate, even using the Web. From time to time, we have "trojan horses" being thrown your way. Sometimes they disable you; you are not able to work or you don't receive e-mail. It's really a big challenge. I'm sure it's happening in other countries, but I'm sure it's worse [here] because the government is trying to oppress the alternative voice and muzzle the independent media. So throwing this cyber warfare makes you slow down a bit, from time to time. And we're still trying to find out how we can fight it. I'm sure in the developed world it's a different case altogether.

USBE: What is your view on the value of technological advancement in media?

Nyaira: My view is that we, as journalists, should advocate for the use of new media technology to reach out to the people in areas that our papers have been banned. For instance, in Zimbabwe, we have areas where independent newspapers are not allowed to go, by virtue of the ruling party. So when a person has got a computer at home, they can simply log on and see what is being published in the capital city. So I advocate more usage of new media technology, because it makes life easier. It's cheaper to use Web-based papers as opposed to using newsprint, which is very expensive nowadays. You have to have a lot of foreign currency, and in my country right now we have foreign currency shortages.

USBE: There has been criticism in the past that with only 30,000 to 50,000 people having access in, say, Zimbabwe, the media isn't doing enough to bridge the 'Digital Divide.'

Nyaira: The Zimbabwean media is not really bridging the divide. We are a developing country, and not many people have access to computers. But from what I have seen, people go into Internet cafes, and for a few Zim dollars they are able to log on, look at their e-mail, look at their newspapers and all. It is not the best we can talk about getting the news to the people, but it's doing its own part in terms of complementing the newspapers. At the moment, we can't say we must do away with the broadsheet or the tabloids, but in terms of complementing what is already there, I think it's doing a great job.