McClatchy Media Showcases African Bloggers
June 22nd, 2007 | Published in Africa, Blogosphere, Media | 4 Comments
I know this guy - the “Mental Acrobat” of Kenyan blogosphere!
Some home-based bloggers (in Kenya) are getting some prime-time exposure in the American mainstream media. Daudi and other bloggers are featured in a McClatchy* Bureau article on African Bloggers. Daudi blogs at Mentalacrobatics, he’s also the co-founder of Kenyan Blog Ring. I’m not surprised. He’s full of wits, ‘blogs good’, and smart as a whip - he surely deserves the lime-light.
What’s up with Nigeria-based bloggers? “The center of the [blogging] trend is Kenya”, according to the report…True?
*The McClatchy Company is the third-largest newspaper company in the United States.
June 22nd, 2007 at 5:12 am (#)
I don’t believe the center of blogging is Kenya, except maybe in the political field. Depending on the context one is blogging about, everyone is a know name in his/her turf.
Naija bloggers are the most random bloggers ever. They blog about everything and not just politics which the mainstream News media are interested in.
Good recognition for him/them, however.
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:52 pm (#)
Interesting story. Thanks for posting it.
I hope this isn’t taken the wrong way, but the reporter privileges a white American male as the expert on African blogging who gets to give the overview (first quoted source in the story), while the Africans are left (later in the story) to provide the details on their specific country. (This is *not* a criticism of Ethan Zuckerman - he is an expert and does wonderful work, etc. etc.) but why do Western publications not trust an African to understand the big picture? Is a story with all African sources not credible?
June 22nd, 2007 at 1:18 pm (#)
Good question!
June 29th, 2007 at 11:05 am (#)
I certainly think that there are more blogs written by Nigerians than by bloggers from any other African nation. That would make sense, of course, given that Nigeria is Africa’s most populous nation.
Ethan Zuckerman must be basing his evaluation on what he perceives as important content in blogs. Personally, I enjoy the writing of Nigerian bloggers. Nigerians do have a tendency to write primarily for the eyes of other Nigerians, though. I am hoping that your African Loft will be one remedy for that limitation.