The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has introduced the AISI Media Award programme to encourage more informed coverage of the information society and ICT for development issues in Africa as part of the its AISI Outreach and Communication Programme.
The AISI Media Awards is aimed at individual journalists and media institutions based in Africa that are "promoting journalism which contributes to a better understanding of the information society in Africa".
The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) is aimed at supporting and accelerating socio-economic development across the continent, focusing on priority strategies, programmes and projects that can assist in the sustainable build up of an information society in African countries. This requires the development of information resources to reflect the needs of each and every sector and stakeholder in society.
The information society also requires that information and knowledge are disseminated and used by stakeholders, the public at large and disenfranchised groups such as women and the poor, in particular, to make rational choices in the economy and for all groups to exercise democratic and human rights.
Article 54 of the AISI on the role of the media states that: "In addition to being an essential means for information dissemination, the mass media plays a critical role in spreading awareness in Africa of the importance and benefits of the information revolution. Newspapers, radio and television provide an easy, accessible and cheap means of carrying information to the end user. Communities in Africa do not have to wait for the Internet to receive much of the information it carries. The mass media can access many of the existing sources of information and provide broad channels of communications to the poor and to remote areas. Media organizations should therefore contribute to the AISI by:
Creating awareness about an AISI for the community at large;
Providing ways and means for disseminating information resulting from an AISI;
Opening channels for communication, which reach out to all citizens.Consequently, the AISI Media Award is intended to be an annual event, which will honour media institutions and professional each year. The winners of the first AISI Media Award were announced in May 2003. The details are available at: http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward2003.htm.
Why an AISI Media Award?
Although the media in Africa are beginning to report on ICT issues, there is still a wide gap in their knowledge and comprehension of the subject in relation to development trends within their national context. The aims are to:
Create greater awareness on the role of ICTs in the development process within the framework of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI);
Support African media to specialize and master ICTs and development issues thereby sharpening their skills and knowledge base;
Enhance access to information on this subject area by various African stakeholders, thereby raising greater awareness;
Stimulate national debates on key issues and emerging trends.AISI/GKP Media Award 2004
The AISI/GKP Media Award has four categories:
Radio: Programmes from commercial and national public radio stations, including news, discussion, documentaries and features. Print: Regional and national newspapers, including specialist magazines.
a) Articles
b) Magazines Television: Factual (documentary and features), News. Community Media: This category will examine nominations from local media (newspapers and community radio) that demonstrate innovative use and appropriation of ICT applications.Prizes: The first prizewinner for each category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
Closing date: 31 January 2004
AISI/IDRC Media Award 2004
The AISI/IDRC Media Award has two categories:
IDRC/AISI Reporting ICT Research and Innovation. This award is geared towards encouraging Media practitioners' focus on issues related to ICT research and innovations in Africa under the framework of the International Development Research Centre's Acacia Programme. Research into the effects of ICTs on African communities and information on ICT innovations, such as WAP applications, the Simputer, or open source applications are important areas that could have far reaching consequences for the development of marginalized people. This award will therefore seek to encourage the dissemination of this type of information through the media, by acknowledging the best media report on ICT Research and/or innovations and their relationship to the development of the African continent and its people.Media Categories: print (articles), radio and television programmes
Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
IDRC/AISI Reporting on ICT Policy. This award is to encourage increased reporting on ICT policies (process and implementation) in Africa under the frameworks of the International Development Research Centre's Acacia Programme and ECA's Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI). The objective is to stimulate interest in the formulation and implementation of national e-strategies in countries on the continent and to support informed reporting by the media.Media Categories: print (articles), radio and television programmes
Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
Closing date: 31 January 2004
AISI/IICD Media Award 2004
The AISI/IICD Media Award has two categories:
IICD/AISI Award on Local Content Applications. This award aims to recognize users of innovative or pioneering applications of ICTs to local content defined as ''the expression of the locally owned and adapted knowledge of a community" in Africa. Applications can be from any sector and use of any medium with a demonstrated link with ICTs that provide opportunities for local people to interact and communicate with each other, expressing their own ideas, knowledge and culture in their own languages.Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
IICD/AISI Media Award on Local Content. This second IICD award will recognize an outstanding story, campaign, or project in which the significance of local knowledge and content is raised in local, national, or regional fora.Media Categories: magazines, websites, radio and television programmes
Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 2,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,000 US Dollars.
Closing date: 31 January 2004
AISI/OSIWA Media Award 2004
The AISI/OSIWA Media Award has two categories:
OSIWA/AISI Best Female Reporter on ICT4D Issues. This category recognizes female journalists on the continent and their interest and reporting of ICT for development issues. The overall objective of this award is to encourage women journalists to enter into reporting on specialized fields such as information and communication technologies.Media Categories: print (articles), radio and television programmes
Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
OSIWA/AISI Reporting on Reporting ICTs and Rural Communities. This award is to support and stimulate interest in the media to report on how ICTs can be used in rural areas in Africa. OSIWA is assisting communities gain access to independent information and uncensored media, and promoting diversity in media ownership as a tool for increasing their participation in public life. Under the ECA AISI framework, this award is aimed at encouraging the media to report on strategies for democratizing access to the Information Society.Media Categories: print (articles), radio and television programmes
Prizes: The first prizewinner for this category will receive 3,000 US Dollars, and the runner-up, 1,500 US Dollars.
Closing date: 31 January 2004
For more information on the AISI Media Awards please visit their website at http://www.uneca.org/aisi/.
