The citizen media scene in Madagascar

March 15, 2011
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Location: 
Madagascar

The blogosphere has been growing slowly but steadily the past decade, slightly struggling to find its voice until the 2009 political crisis. The sudden precipitation of events that provoked high demand for frequent updates provided a unique set up for the budding blogosphere to assert their potential, despite the evident challenges.

The past events have been thoroughly documented so let us focus on the consequence of the crisis on citizen journalists and conversely the impact of citizen media on the evolution of the crisis.

Global Voices - Bar camp on reporting in times of crisis (Antananarivo, Madagascar): Global Voices - Bar camp on reporting in times of crisis (Antananarivo, Madagascar) Photo credit: AriniainaGlobal Voices - Bar camp on reporting in times of crisis (Antananarivo, Madagascar): Global Voices - Bar camp on reporting in times of crisis (Antananarivo, Madagascar) Photo credit: Ariniaina

Bloggers' readership:

Although Madagascar is now theoretically connected to the high bandwidth fibre optic cables EASSy and LION, most of the country still have limited access to internet both because of lack of infrastructure and high costs of broadband internet (only 1.5% of the population used internet in 2009). Therefore, internet won't be able to fulfill the role of democratizing information/communication until access is available to more Malagasies. Still, it is undeniable that the use of online media tools has dramatically increased among urban citizens, specifically during the 2009 political crisis. Bloggers from many parts of the country ( Antananarivo, Toamasina and Mahajanga) have volunteered the statistics of their blogs since 2008 to evaluate the evolution of readership. The timeline of the number of readers can be seen below:

Malagasy Blog Stats from Madagascar: (Stats of 4 personal blogs in Madagascar from 2008-10 (blogs written in Malagasy (VO), French (MH, TD) and English (MM))Malagasy Blog Stats from Madagascar: (Stats of 4 personal blogs in Madagascar from 2008-10 (blogs written in Malagasy (VO), French (MH, TD) and English (MM))

As shown on the charts, even though readership varies significantly between blogs, trends have been strikingly similar even though the blogs were written in different languages. Two traffic peaks can be seen around February-April 2009 when the coup occurred, followed by a sudden decrease that is probably related to uncertainty over potential consequences of writing blog posts. Readership came back when the legitimacy of the regime was questioned by the international community when the Malagasy government was shunned from speaking at the UN General Assembly. It must also be noted that writing during the height of the crisis took a toll on many bloggers who may have fatigued from the toll of trying to inform frequently.

Support from the News Media:

A critical development for the evolution of blogs in Madagascar were the recognition and support by international news media through mention and links:
BBC, CNN, Global Post, France 24, IRIN News, Le Monde, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
The accrued interest fostered emulation amongst bloggers but also reiterated to them the need for their contributions.

From http://globalvoicesonline.org