African Media and FOSS

By Brenda Zulu
Do you know of any News Room in Africa that is running on LINUX application? Many newsrooms in Africa are still running on Microsoft applications with some servers running on Free Open Source Software (FOSS). Newsrooms usually have many computers it is a fact that using Microsoft application software is expensive in that software have to be bought and installed unlike Linux which is distributed free of charge.

The real situation on the ground is that there is a lot of piracy going on, even in terms of software mainly because it is expensive for people to install software especially in newsrooms which have many computers.

April 23 to 27, 2007 has been planned to be host to a Media FOSS meeting to be held at the Ghana India Kofi Annan Center for Excellence in information communication technology (ICT) Accra, Ghana this is according to recent online announcement.

In Zambia, for instance I have never been to a Newsroom, Resource Center, Internet Café, and Library where Journalists and other people use Linux. Most Journalists use Microsoft in the Newsroom.

In 2003 during the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, the organisers had set up an Open source space access point where all computers where running on Linux and it was here that I first used Linux. I navigated my yahoo e-mail asking questions and bit by bit I was done.

The first time I used soft ware in a Newsroom was when I attended the 2004 World Social Forum (WSF) in India which I covered under the African Flame Newspaper. The forum had locked out Microsoft because it does not allow people to modify it and instead allows people to spend more if they ever need upgrades to their computer programs.

The experience was not pleasant at first because as someone who is uses Microsoft on an everyday basis, the situation was like a learning process for me. I had to ask at every step on what to do. For instance I had to ask on how to open a page and save a story because I had infact lost some stories before thinking I would use Linux that easy. I was wrong and indeed am happy that the Media FOSS meeting will take place and equip Journalists on FOSS issues in print, electronic and online.

In 2005 during the Africa WSIS another Linux space was set up and most of us used it. Using e-mail is more or less very interesting as one basically has the Microsoft mind but has to adhere to the rules of Linux.

At the just ended 2007 WSF in Nairobi, Kenya the media center had about 400 computers running on Linux only power cuts and lack of internet derailed media work.

During a Highway Africa News Agency (HANA) training, I learnt about FOSS and was given the software to have it installed in my computer but by this time I did not have one. The exercise was very exiting and educative as it was being delivered by a man who is very passionate on FOSS issues.

In my experience as a Journalist I would say I have seen FOSS being used by Journalists only during big gatherings such a workshop, summits or social forums. I am yet to see FOSS being applied in a newsroom.

African women however have also positioned themselves within the open source movement by launching an organisation called Linuxchic Africa. Linuxchix Africa was formed in 2004 by African women and for African women. It is a chapter in Africa affiliated to Linuxchix worldwide. The aim of the African chapter is to help toward building the critical mass of Linux skills among African women, and to advocate for the use of Free and Open Source Software for the many community development challenges being faced by Africans, especially African women.

The challenges of Africa are well documented, with HIV/AIDS representing the most significant development challenge of our times. Community development can no longer be viewed in isolation but require multi-tiered, cross-sectoral, and well-coordinated approaches that are aligned to Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

Without ICT, communities get left behind and are unable to take advantage of the social and economic benefits that come with ICT. This integration of ICT into social development programmes is often referred to as e-Development, e-Health and e-Learning and represents models of ICT intervention in development, health and education respectively.

With the advent of Free and Open Source Software, it has now become possible to make software available to people who would otherwise not afford it. With FOSS, countries will no longer have to priorities between poverty and the digital divide. Also since women are the ones mostly affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS, it is relevant that they be properly tooled and positioned to make that difference in their lives. Furthermore, ICT is still male dominated, more so the Open Source technical environment, so Linuxchix Africa will play a role as a catalyst that will demystify FOSS to the people who stand to benefit the most from it.

The African Media women should not therefore be left out in technological development and it is important that a FOSS media meeting that will be convened in Ghana should also consider inviting media women who are interested in ICTs for development.

How is FOSS beneficial to media? The meeting should apart from equipping Journalists with skills on how to use Open Source Software be a place where media will begin to analyse FOSS issues and how these will benefit them.

In my practice as a Journalist, I have seen that even media resist to new technologies. In this digital world, African media has lagged behind in development, with some media still sending stories by tele-fax especially in rural areas.

Many Journalists in the rural areas do not have access to the internet and telephony. Worse still, Journalists do not have tools to use in their work. Radio Journalists need mini dics and laptops for editing their information gathered in the field. Print Journalists need to have computers or laptops. Lack of equipment has denied Journalists to use Free and Open Source Software and this is a big hindrance in that many Journalists have to depend on equipment in a newsroom. A few Media personnel who have equipment are also running their laptops on Microsoft because we have very little Information technology applications especially on Linux.

Recently, I used an Open Society Institute of West Africa (OSIWA) Programme Officer, Ben Akoh’s computer who is a Linux user to create a power point presentation. At first I lost the document twice and then when I was used to using Linux, I simply went by it and there I was it was so easy. What I felt would be failure, was actually better success for everyone.

Akoh who has been using Linux for the past three years says he uses it because it is like driving a car which gives him greater control over his computer. He added that he has found Linux to be more secure than Windows in that he has been protected from virus.

“I prefer to use Linux because it is free and it is an open source software operating system. You don’t have to pay to install Linux on your computer and it can be downloaded for free from web sites,” said Akoh.

He however bemoaned lack of media sensitisation and attributed it to lack of the media using FOSS themselves.

The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) on the occasion of the Software Freedom Day 2006 reiterated that African development is the first duty of Africans and African governments.

In a call to African Heads of State, African policy makers and all Africans, FOSSFA indicated that the goal of every African country should be to find a way to engage in high-speed yet sustainable development from a base rich in culture and natural resources but lacking in skills and technology resources to a situation that retains the culture and meets the needs of the country in terms of a growing and evolving skills and resources infrastructure.

Free Open Source Software (FOSS) represents certain values - sharing, collaborating, community and social development. These values have deep roots in human nature and could be found in all societies at all times. They believe this model - developing software by a community of peer reviewed activists, participants, employees and gifting the results back into the community to be further developed by others thus extending the cycle - could be extended to economic and social development in Africa. It is in this context that the FOSS model emerges as a powerful model for African development.

In contemporary Africa where knowledge and skills are scarce a simple free market model would require extensive duplication of activity that would simply prevent development. Why should 40 countries repeat the effort of developing or buying a particular portal, software or textbook? In principle ideas and knowledge are free but it is only the form that can be restricted by law. However the form in which ideas and knowledge come to Africa are often controlled by foreign enterprises causing unnecessary high prices.

A FOSS model incorporating open content would allow the creation of knowledge and ideas in forms that allow instant and free distribution and adaptation. Knowledge and information embedded into proprietary formats is an outrage to the rights of citizens. Information that is fundamentally free is encapsulated into formats that require access to proprietary software. Government information which is a public asset and should never be encapsulated into proprietary formats.

FOSSFA recognised that African ICT and governments will benefit in FOSS under security, local support, capacity, innovations and creativity, radical reduction in costs, innovations and creativity, Economic Independence and sovereignty.

This was because the peer review process leads to greater security in products and in terms of national security avoids the risk that secret back-doors could compromise important national interest and the software is free and open it is easy to create a local support.

In Africa local ICT capacity is encouraged because local developers can access the source code and access other experts in the international community. Proprietary software by restricting the ability to adapt, innovate or share, radically de-skills the African ICT environment.
Radical reductions in costs are expected with open standards and open formats to give rise to more creativity and innovation and less vendor lock in. Open formats are absolutely required as there can be no justification for a government to privilege a private company's products. .
It should also be known that FOSS avoids dependence on foreign suppliers and situations where foreign governments may impose official or unofficial sanctions and restrictions. FOSS allows national government sovereignty over its ICT infrastructure in terms of security, support, development and costs.
Free access to public information and the ability to interact with government as citizens, businesses, or other organisations without impediment - whether in terms of cost or in terms of freedom - should be an essential value. It is clear that the use of open standards, open formats, and FOSS best supports that endeavour. Governments should avoid proprietary standards, formats, and software in order to avoid restricting this free access.
Any attempt to get Africa onto a sustainable high speed development path would require continent wide co-operation. African countries are not competing against each other to develop - therefore there is a high premium for collaboration and co-operation. FOSS provides a model for such collaboration and co-operation and also allows for co-operating with people outside Africa, say in US, Asia and Europe etc. Open standards and open formats are absolutely essential.

FOSSFA believes that every African government should adopt open standards and open formats. They called on all to seriously consider adopting FOSS and the FOSS model to promote the ICT infrastructure of our countries and to promote open content to increase general access to information and knowledge. They believed that a viable collaboration between Africans, African governments, and FOSSFA will make this a reality

It is clear that the Free and Open Source Software movement is advancing more than earlier expected. Developing countries’ governments are adopting FOSS policies to strengthen and ensure sustainability in their respective economies. In Africa, FOSS initiatives are also on the rise. The FOSS community has grown to be a reliable economic partner at all levels and sectors of our economy. Nevertheless, the popular participation in the creation and use of FOSS for the greater benefit of the African population is yet to be achieved. This, to a great extent, is due to lack of media understanding and benefit from the abundant FOSS wealth that is available.

African media practitioners have expressed the need to understand FOSS, know what FOSS offers to the economy in general and to the media in particular. Concerns have also been expressed on the feeble network that exists between the FOSS and the Media communities. Desires have been expressed for a face-to-face meeting between FOSS developers and experts and media practitioners to kick-start dialogue, exchange and stronger news reporting relationship and networking.

FOSSFA intends to organize a one-week session to acquaint African media practitioners with Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), web media practice, introduce FOSS tools available for Media, the role of FOSS in African development, and the tools and reason for FOSS Media advocacy. This session will present African media practitioners the opportunity to have a face to face meeting with African Software developers.

FOSSFA’s position as continental facilitator provides the needed base for FOSS practitioners to meet with and train Media practitioners on FOSS, on enhancing web media practice, on FOSS use and FOSS advocacy. This media space will also be useful to FOSS practitioners to carry messages on their work to a larger audience.