In Monrovia, Liberia a unique form of journalism exists where the news is written out daily on a chalk board for everyone to read as they pass by. Alfred Sirleaf established his chalkboard news service called “Daily Talk” in May of 2000, when he saw a need for direct, free and accessible reporting. Because of his provocative style of reporting the truth, the Daily Talk was destroyed twice before he finally fled into exile in Ghana. As peace returned to the region, so did the Daily Talk, and today it is one of the most read News Sources in the capital with thousands everyday taking the time to stop as they walk or drive by to get the breaking news. The Daily Talk in not only a board, but includes a small news room in the back, where he works on the next set of “articles” as viewers read the current set (using a rotating double-sided chalk board). (link)
Alfred Sirleaf is the managing editor of The Daily Talk, a white plywood shed trumpeting the latest headlines along Tubman Boulevard, one of Monrovia main thoroughfares. “Those who don’t have opportunity to buy newspaper, go on the Internet, who can’t afford to buy generator to buy TV,” he said, describing just about everyone in this battered city, “I do all the dirty work for them, and I just give them exactly what they want.”
Alfred’s solution to dispersing information to the people around him is simple yet highly effective. He also seems to have made a business model out of this board, charging for advertisement space on the bottom. Alfred wants to make sure every Liberian can keep up with the news and play a part in the country’s young democratic government, but in a way that wholly depends on what type of information he displays.
But there are so many advantages to providing “analog” news:
Alfred serves as a reminder to the rest of us, that simple is often better, just because it works. The lack of electricity never throws him off. The lack of funding means he’s creative in ways that he recruits people from around the city and country to report news to him. He uses his cell phone as the major point of connection between him and the 10,000 (he says) that read his blackboard daily. (link)
[tags]mobile, development, blogger, analog, africa,news[/tags]