Much ado about hair!

So,I cut my hair, got rid of the processed hair,weaves and wigs, then posted it on Facebook in addition to Tweeting it. For those wondering what this has to do with the FAMWZ  New media course, hold your horses, I`ll let you in just now. During the course, we learnt a couple of differences between new media and old media. Those differences suddenly began to make sense as I came to be aware of people`s reaction to my "news"!

First we learnt that new media is different from old media in that it was "us" journos giving them "audiences" our news with little chance of them giving us what they thought of the news or even to add more information to the news. This became apparent as more and more people commented on my post and those who had seen my hairstyle actually gave more information about how the hair looks to those who hadn`t, though I did not post a picture.

Secondly we learnt that new media is in " real time" as opposed to the old way where you had to wait for the  main news at 8pm or tomorrow`s paper to get the latest news. I posted my update just before i left the house, and by the time i got to work 30 minutes later, all my Facebook friends i happen to work with were waiting eagerly to see the new hairdo!

So on the whole, practical things we are learning at the course. As for my hair, we wait to see what happens next!!!

News diaries

The more people I am connected to..the more Iam exposed to viewpoints , eye witness accounts and sometimes even story pitches. Getting a diary can be stressing but with the advent of new media one can easily get a story idea on various social networks either facebook, twitter etc.  Getting a comment from a potential source can be a nightmare but with various media platforms available one can search for alternatives sources rather than waiting for long with an in complete story. However it is more important to verify facts rather than just relying on social networks posts and comments. I would not want to get into trouble by publishing news that is not authentic.News on death of musicians and other prominent people is usually posted on various networks and at times it will not be true....so as a journalist it is not wise to just feed on that information.

I am saying all this because I have fallen in love with the new media though I am still to learn more......
 

Course Assignments

Hi Everyone

I hope you are enjoying the course so far. The following are your assignments for the break:

1. Post a link to our course stack on Delicious at least TWICE a week. It must be relevant to the course. Please tag your links with 'FAMWZ'  and 'social media'

2. Post your contribution to the blog at least ONCE a week. Your blog contribution must relevant to this course. It may vary from detailing your personal experiences in using social media to an analysis of social media usage in Zimbabwe. These are only examples,you may be as creative as you wish. At the end of the course your peers will evaluate your blog based on the following criteria:
 (i) relevance to the course
(ii) level of creativity
(iii) writing
(iv) how interesting the blog is, and
(v) your level of engagement with your blog audience.

3. Use your Google Reader account to subscribe to the course blog (click 'subscribe' then type http://famwz.blogspot.com ) (if you do not already have an account please open one at http://reader.google.com)

4. Check your Google Reader and the course Delicious stacks regularly. Your are expected to comment on the other participants contributions to both of these.

Google Accounts
It is recommended that you open an account with Google. We will be using Google services for the course, and it is preferable for them to be linked together. If you also open a Gmail account, please send your new email address to me so that I can update the class contact list.


Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the course. You will gain access to the course wiki during the break.

Upenyu Makoni

The New Media Training course with the Federation of African Media Women Zimbabwe (FAMWZ) has been a great eye opener. Sometimes as journalists we have been so disgruntled after writing a well researched piece that you would think its worth reading, only for the editor to spike it for ever. But today I have learnt that there are so many channels that I can use to get my story published, thanks to the social media.

Twitter, Facebook, Blogging and Skype are some of the channels where I can post my stuff and can still get readership.

From this day on, I'm going to use these social media tools in my everyday work, the benefits of using these is that I can get to break a story before anyone else on print does.

However due  to our media house set-ups, I have learnt that although I have been restricted to a particular job description, one can still take all the available opportunity and equip oneself with many skills, be it photography, subbing. That then makes one to be a multi-skilled journalist.

I have learnt so much from this training that I want to go out and unleash these skills.

What a journey!

Keeping up with new media

Participating in the New media training has been an incrediable journey of discovery for me. There are many social media tools that I have not been using in my work simply because I did not understand them or it was just fear of technology. Now Iam equipped because I have embraced new media tools and can now use them in my everyday work. This is just what I need in this new world of technology that is ever moving forward. I have also realised that every journalist can  gather and write a story  but in this era its not enough.
I believe as a  multiskilled journalist I can  use all medium of communication which will enable me to decide the best way to tell a story. From my own experience at times  it is very difficult to judge how a story should be told, until all of the facts are gathered. From this, it is important to keep an open mind about a story and having the knowledge on how to go about it.
There is so much competition in the media today and being a multiskilled journalist is an advantage thus it is important to execute backpack journalism. Backpack journalism is the term used to described the type of equipment and software that every journalist should keep with them at all times. Without the proper equipment, it is easy to miss out on an opportunity to bring a story that can transform one's career for better.
 As a reporter if I carry a camera around wherever I go I might be surprised at some of the photo opportunities that come up.
I feel like I have been lagging behind,this course has just eroded the fear I had off tweeting and blogging. Guess now I can "keep up"."

social medialising for a living!

I love Facebooking, tweeting IMing and all social media just like a lot of us. But enrolling on the course in new media for female jurnalists which is being offered by Famwz opened my eyes to a whole new world I thought I was too busy to engage in. So I started to do some research( though admittedly it wasn`t of my own volition, you can blame the facillitator of the course, Upenyu Makoni, for that!). I came across this article.  For those too lazy or too bored to follow the link, the long and short of the article is that that the CEO of a company called Domo instructed that every  employee get social - literally. He informed his employees that in order to keep their jobs the  employees needed to complete 20 social media and other online tasks over an eight-week period.
              The tasks ranged from updating their Facebook to reflect the new Timeline feature, creating three circles in Google+, creating a blog, creating a playlist on one of the music services, Pandora or Spotify and more.As a reward - in addition to keeping their jobs that is, the employees were given rewards for individuals who accomplish the goals and of the entire company meet its collective goals, everyone gets a free day off from work.
             At face value I  thought this was some sci fi loving geek gone bananas or just plainly, Horrible Bosses part 2. Upon further reflection I realised that this could be something that is worth looking at, especially for the media. Think about how may times celebs tweet or update their facebook profiles and you can see how much more information is out there. Being more social for journalists can actually increase the visibility of their brand as newpapers and media houses. If each and every employee of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was on twitter, Facebok and other networking site, for example, tweeting about their programmes, news stories etc, think of the intrest that will be generated about said programmes. Each person would be linking to all their friends on Facebook and we can create a whole explosion of people following News fro Zbc, ( quite frankly few people DO open the zbc website, too boring)!
             So next time the boss moans and complains about how you are not working but just chatting with your friends on facebook in the newsroom bla bla , direct them to this link and let them see how beneficial social media really is.... for the company.....

FAMWZ ON NEW MEDIA

FAMWZ ON NEW MEDIA

FAMWZ is doing great in familiarising female journalists with new media. which involves blogs, wikis, facebook, mashups, ... Amazingly, enumeration is a pretty good way to explain to folks what is meant by the term new media.

New media is hard to define because it's a moving target that changes as the technologies keep changing.

These are types of internet-based communication technologies, which use 3 or more of the 5 C's

Characteristics of New Media
we are learning the unique characteristics that differentiate new media from old one e.g Communication,Collaboration ,Community,Creativity, Convergence , Web 2.0 Technology

Compare to the so-called "old" media: newspapers, magazines, radio, television. Have the new media rendered the old media obsolete? Is this a "new world" - like the industrial revolution? The term "old media" would cause us to think so. However, what we have been seeing is more like a fusing of old and new. Newspapers also have online blogs. Television channels have fan sites for their shows. In the historical perspective, we would like to show the various influences on the new media of today, which could not exist without the convergence of technologies or, indeed, without the convergence of media. We could construct a timeline placing critical events in their historical context.

The Daily Blog Tips i have learnt today

Starting a new blog is difficult and this can put many people off. Some may get off to a good start only to become quickly discouraged because of the lack of comments or visits. 

 Post regularly, but don't post if you have nothing worth posting about.

Stick with only a few specific genres to talk about.

Don't put 'subscribe' and 'vote me' links all over the front page until you have people that like your blog enough to ignore them (they're usually just in the way).

Use a clean and simple theme if at all possible.

Enjoy, blog for fun, comment on other peoples' blogs (as they normally visit back).

Have fun blogging and remember, there are no rules to what you post on your blog!

Thanks to my tutor,Upenyu Makoni

New media shaping our news

The new media training we are receiving here at FAMWZ is very important for all journalist's or broadcaster's. If we are to broadcast news that is informative, educative, and entertaining we have to be news makers that know how to use the new media methods. The world is ever changing  & is it is being influenced by the media, how we tell our stories to the world is important. We have learn't how to embrace this new medium using all different types of communication such as bloggs, twitter, facebook pages & accounts, emails, smart phones, sms & whatsApp which is a communication tools. We have explored all types of new media tools in this training. As a radio broadcaster I find this training is very equipping because I need to communicate with my listener's. Thanks to FAMWZ & Upenyu Makoni our trainer!

new media tools vis-a-vis journalism ethics

Computer literacy comes as a critical component for effectiveness if a journalist is to be in a position to utilize and use the new media in executing their duties as the watchdog of society. The basic journalism skills such as interviewing techniques, good reporting and writing skills, thorough research among others are also relevant in using the new media for information gathering, dissemination and consumption.
The new media is the best platform for a journalist to monitor and evaluate the relevance of their news articles. Effective communication entails two way interaction where the consumer is able to express their views and ascertain the relevance of news. It is, mostly to the advantage of the journalist if the readers or viewers are accorded the platform for feedback. Besides giving the reporter the platform to know the impact of the news article, feedback ensures that the reporter improves on the way they present the content of an article for the benefit of the consumers.
 However, despite all the pros and accolades associated with the new media, there are disadvantages embedded with its use in journalism. Verification skills are important because the new media as a source of news is sometimes questionable. For ethical and objective reporting, it is important that prior to publishing any article, journalists verify and thoroughly researches on the authenticity of stories. The new media is prone to distortions and errors hence the need for verification of news leads.
The trainer Upenyu Makoni has not only equipped the ladies here with the information on the new and social media, but has assisted all of us to have a hands on experience on how to use it in executing our duties. I believe this course is the best i have ever had this year and i am hoping to utilize this information and skills acquired to take my career to another level, not only for me, but for all the women in my country.

The Interface between Technology and Media

By Emilia Bundo

The advent of the new millennium saw new forms and tools of information dissemination being embraced as media practitioners across the globe compete to satisfy the news and current affairs appetite of their audiences.

Internet-based applications as well as mobile phones are often a time used to inform, entertain, educate and quell down the society as part of enhancing service delivery.

The most common in use are social booking, internet forums, videos on You tube and photographs on Twitter.

Despite the interface between media and technology for real time service delivery, journalists are facing the challenge of keep abreast with technological advancements as most of them from third world countries lack the know how and in some countries they face impromptu incrassation as they try to be the watchdog of the society by exposing certain anti-democratic vices that need uprooting.

Through the use of the social media, warnings and forecasts can reach the intended information users on time and allow them to take the necessary precautionary measures on time given the background that not all people tune in to the radio or watch television in search of weather forecasts.

Social media can also help link up journalists with their resource persons and create a platform for networking as they view each others professional profiles which in the end can create mutual trust between the two parties.

It can also be used to effectively monitor and evaluate each others works as people exchange ideas and notes about story writing.

However, social media can not be trusted for reasons such as objective reporting as you base your facts on contributions.

NEW MEDIA

New Media training is vital for every  Journalist.It makes  life easier when one is gathering information
as it allows one to have variety sources of information from different people as well as different places.Through New Media one will be able to carry out interviews effectively and effeciently .
For a journalist to be competitive on the markert,it is very important for one to be well versed with the latest technology on the markert.
They are a number of New Media,these which facebook,twitter,skype...etc

FAMWZ OUTSHINES

New media is proving to be the fastest growing means of communication. With technology fast evolving and the world shrinking into a  global village, all sectors of society have been left with no choice but to join the crusade of  Internet age. In Zimbabwe media houses are slowly grasping on to the cyber world with many of them having websites. 
 The coming of the social media networks has seen the media revamp its self back to the old school public sphere with social media networks such as twitter and face book now being arenas where people from all walks of life can now met and discuss mutual issues which range from politics, economics and social. 
Zimbabwean women have been awarded such an opportunity by the FEDERATION OF AFRICAN MEDIA WOMEN ZIMBABWE, through its pilot new media training course which will be running for the next three months, till September.  The trainer is Upenyu Makoni -Muchemwa who is proving to be  a guru, day two already the ladies are already fully equipped with the essential skills... Now we know that whats app, skype  are communication tools and face book and twitter are social networks  amongst other  topics. Bottom line is that new media is providing the world with per second news updates on the latest information worldwide

FAMWZ Social Media Course Blog: Female Journalists Attend New Media Training Cours...

FAMWZ Social Media Course Blog: Female Journalists Attend New Media Training Cours...: Female Journalists Attend New Media Training Course  Technology is fast evolving and changing lives. In light of this, 12 Female journal...

The new media training course  came at the right time as newsrooms the world over are putting emphasis on the use of social media in news gathering.  The New York Times recently appointed a social media editor.

Female Journalists Attend New Media Training Course

 Technology is fast evolving and changing lives. In light of this, 12 Female journalists attended a training course on new media and online journalism.  The training was facilitated by Upenyu Makoni- Muchemwa.   On the  first day of the workshop, journalists were introduced to  the theories of new media/ social media and familiarized themselves with different google tools that are crucial in using the new media for development. The training course is part of FAMWZ/ IREX entrepreneurship drive for female journalists in the country. 

The new media training is very informative.