In the 1980s and 90s development workers were disgruntled about the lack of information available about the poorer countries of the world. They no longer have reason to complain.
Mainstream media still have a narrow focus in much of what they write and broadcast, but for those of us who are interested in development issues and the African continent, there are plenty of news sources. Many national newspapers both in Asia, Africa and Latin-America have online publications.
My favourite sites are however two international sites:
* IRIN, a multimedia project run by the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
* AlertNet run by the Reuters Foundation and using material provided by the news agency’s global network.
IRIN has today revamped and modernised its website making it more readable and attractive to use. The depth of information provided is impressive as is the offering of both video and audio productions.
This is what they say about themselves:
“Formed in 1995, IRIN is a multimedia humanitarian news and analysis service covering crises in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and is a key project of the UN Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), responsible for international emergency coordination, humanitarian advocacy and policy.
IRIN enjoys editorial independence from its donors and OCHA. Ninety-five percent of its readers regard IRIN as objective, according to a 2006 reader survey, while 78% feel IRIN reflected the views of the broader humanitarian community.”
The project is dependent on its main donors: Australia, Canada, Denmark, European Commission (ECHO), Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA (USAID). If not more funding is forthcoming IRIN's project work with local radio stations in Afghanistan and West Africa is under threat of closure.
The Reuter Foundation's AlertNet focuses on emergency topics. Apart from news updates and features, the various blogs on the site give interesting and thought provoking perspectives.
by Jan Speed
Photo: IRIN - The site provides photos relevant to development work. Here from recent floods in Namibia.
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