Twenty years after the Windhoek Declaration on press freedom

ties, as well as <strong>the</strong> stories of good
will, of villagers protecting <strong>the</strong>ir
neighbours, of policemen refusing
to shoot protestors, of women going
door to door pleading for peace,
<strong>the</strong>se stories were written by <strong>the</strong>
bloggers and eventually mapped by
<strong>the</strong> mappers as <strong>the</strong> Ushahidi platform
was born.
Citizens want a seat at <strong>the</strong> dowry
table, we need to be involved
in <strong>the</strong> debate on <strong>the</strong> future of
our continent and we need <strong>the</strong>
plurality of opinions represented in
our communities to be taken into
account. This is why I call blogging
<strong>the</strong> most African thing you can do
online today.
“...we need to be
involved in <strong>the</strong> debate
of <strong>the</strong> future of our
continent...”
The wonderful thing about <strong>the</strong>
<strong>Windhoek</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> is that Africa
took <strong>the</strong> lead globally in recognising
<strong>the</strong> importance of protecting <strong>the</strong>
right to a plurality of information
and equally important <strong>the</strong> protection
of those that provide that information.
Chimamanda Adichie reminds us
that Africa has never been <strong>the</strong>
continent of a single story. The
mainstream media in Africa has
worked out profitable ways to tell
us what happened and is currently
working hard to figure out how <strong>the</strong>y
can tell us what is happening NOW,
as is seen with proliferation of SMS
news alerts.
What <strong>the</strong> media houses of Africa
can do in <strong>the</strong> next 20 <strong>years</strong> in <strong>the</strong>
spirit of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong> <strong>Declaration</strong> is
go beyond covering thought leaders
and opinion makers. Instead, <strong>the</strong>y
can aggressively push to claim some
space by becoming thought leaders
and opinion makers <strong>the</strong>mselves, just
as bloggers have done.
Whenever we ask journalists in Kenya
to spare us <strong>the</strong> politicians, <strong>the</strong>y
quote statistics that say newspaper
sales fall when politicians are not
featured on <strong>the</strong> cover. But we also
know from psychologists that it
takes 6 – 8 weeks to develop a new
habit. A bold way for African media
houses to celebrate <strong>the</strong> <strong>Windhoek</strong>
<strong>Declaration</strong> would be to turn around
<strong>the</strong>ir reporting for 6 – 8 weeks and
to dedicate <strong>the</strong>ir front pages to <strong>the</strong>
alternative story. In this way, and
learning from <strong>the</strong> Africans blogosphere,
<strong>the</strong>y could help play <strong>the</strong>ir
part in showcasing <strong>the</strong> plurality of
opinions working in concert in our
societies.
Section 2: Pluralism
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