[kictanet] Disturbing Advert or appropriate local content?
Wainaina Mungai
wainaina at madeinkenya.org
Fri Mar 20 13:05:43 EAT 2009
Interesting discourse....
I haven't heard the advert but I believe there should be education and
awareness about the "emergency pill" and other forms of contraception.
You'll be surprised at how many youth and even many of us 'aware'
adults are uninformed/misinformed about such.
We might make more progress by requiring such advertisers to clarify
the side-effect etc of such pills or only grow the market though
educational programmes rather than open-ended advertising....or better
still, to state side effects just like cigarette manufacturers have
to.....
How that will be achieved is a seminar in itself...as the pill was on
sale anyway...just that it is abused by many young and old.
...my 3 Zimbabwean cents ;-)
Wainaina
On 3/20/09, John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Complex is indeed the term. And depending on your scientific convictions on
> when life actually begins i.e. is at conception or after birth? Then this
> emergency pill could be "abortion over the counter" and last time I checked
> abortion was still illegal in Kenya. What media is therefore doing is
> promoting the culture of death and impunity that is already rampant in our
> society.
>
> But that's my thinking and If I can get the correct email for Media Council
> I can submit more details/points. Makali, Kanja is this Media Council thing
> still active or was it overtaken by the new Kenya Communication Amendment
> Act (2008)?
>
> walu.
> --- On Fri, 3/20/09, alice <alice at apc.org> wrote:
>
>> From: alice <alice at apc.org>
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] Disturbing Advert or appropriate local content?
>> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> Date: Friday, March 20, 2009, 12:38 PM
>> I guess within the scramble for customers this is one
>> example.
>>
>> This is a complex issue and people are likely to respond
>> differently to
>> this kind of content( indeed content generally). And it
>> also depends on
>> whether it is on television or radio, in a cinema film, on
>> the Internet,
>> in the press etc. So while you may find it offensive, I may
>> find it very
>> informative and educative.
>>
>> So what harm is this advert likely to cause our youth
>> against any
>> benefits? difficult to know/measure and again quite
>> complex. So
>> important to balance "harm and offence".
>>
>> Re: complaints process etc both institutions are
>> responsible at various
>> levels.
>>
>> best
>> alice
>>
>> (Views expressed are personal and not a reflection of any
>> of the
>> institutions I am affiliated with)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> John Walubengo wrote:
>> > By the way Alice, your post reminds me...there's
>> this little Advert running on FM Radio stations about
>> "the emergency pill". I must confess that I
>> personally find it disturbing - particular when put in the
>> context of our listening youth.
>> >
>> > I have a whole thesis on why it should be pulled off
>> air and just wondering where to submit the same. Is it to
>> CCK or Media Council? Either way, could someone share the
>> email contact for receiving customer complaints against
>> Media?
>> >
>> > walu.
>> >
>> > --- On Thu, 3/19/09, alice <alice at apc.org>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> >> From: alice <alice at apc.org>
>> >> Subject: [kictanet] African media fragmentation
>> piles the pressure on radio and TV stations as they scramble
>> for audiences
>> >> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
>> >> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
>> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>> >> Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009, 10:12 PM
>> >> (From Balancing Act)
>> >>
>> >> African media fragmentation piles the pressure on
>> radio and
>> >> TV stations as they scramble for audiences
>> >>
>> >> Once upon a time everyone knew what television and
>> radio
>> >> were and they played a key role in people’s
>> lives.
>> >> Particularly for urban Africans they were the
>> soundtrack to
>> >> life, the sports match in the bar and the common
>> >> conversations about television programmes.
>> Nowadays in the
>> >> more liberalised of African countries there are
>> more
>> >> television and radio stations than you can
>> remember the
>> >> names of and for the smaller group of the more
>> well-off,
>> >> there are pay TV channels, time-shifting and DVDs.
>> And all
>> >> that’s before you take into account SMS
>> information
>> >> services and the Internet which are eating away at
>> the edges
>> >> of the audiences. Russell Southwood looks at the
>> >> fault-lines.
>> >>
>> >> Dakar will shortly have 7 television stations, not
>> >> including the three Pay-TV channels you can get if
>> you can
>> >> afford them or can pirate a service. Lagos has 13
>> television
>> >> stations and perhaps three main Pay-TV channels.
>> Kinshasa
>> >> has over 40 television stations, many of which
>> simply show
>> >> pirated television content. In this circumstance,
>> no channel
>> >> will get more than 20-30% of audience share on a
>> regular
>> >> basis.
>> >>
>> >> Pay-TV may seem a very modest presence in most
>> countries
>> >> but because it is widely watched in public places,
>> it
>> >> audience reach is understated by its subscriber
>> numbers.
>> >> Furthermore, piracy means that a large number of
>> additional
>> >> subscribers (sometimes double the number) are
>> watching
>> >> without paying for content.
>> >>
>> >> Vernacular radio has exploded and the number of
>> radio
>> >> stations is exponentially larger than for
>> television
>> >> stations as many of them are much more local.
>> Uganda has 150
>> >> stations and Kenya over 90. But whilst radio might
>> have a
>> >> wider and deeper audience reach than television,
>> the
>> >> fragmentation makes it difficult for advertisers
>> to reach
>> >> their audiences.
>> >>
>> >> The standard broadcasting formats that seemed to
>> serve so
>> >> well in less competitive times are now being taken
>> apart and
>> >> put back together by the viewers and listeners
>> themselves.
>> >> Legitimate and pirated DVDs provide a steady
>> stream of
>> >> relatively cheap entertainment, particularly of
>> films.
>> >> Recent releases may command a better price but
>> three
>> >> relatively old action action movies (Bruce Lee,
>> Stephen
>> >> Seagal, that kind of thing) can be bought for
>> around US$2.
>> >> PVRs, streaming and catch-up downloads will all
>> become a
>> >> reality as part of the dividend of cheaper
>> bandwidth in
>> >> 2009.
>> >>
>> >> Middle class Africans are using a growing array of
>> devices.
>> >> Laptop use is growing as sales of this kind of
>> computer
>> >> begin to equal those of desktop PCs. High-end
>> smart phones
>> >> like Blackberries and iPhones are increasingly
>> visible. One
>> >> African carrier has 800,000 high-end phones on its
>> network.
>> >>
>> >> These devices are not just for doing work or
>> making phone
>> >> calls. They have become media in their own right.
>> Recent
>> >> surveys show that in North Africa 3-7% of the
>> population
>> >> cited SMS as one of their most used daily
>> information
>> >> sources. Likewise the Internet is set to have a
>> much greater
>> >> impact with the spread of broadband subscriptions.
>> >>
>> >> According to Alexa.com, Facebook and You Tube are
>> already
>> >> amongst the Top 10 sites in the African countries
>> that it
>> >> analyses. Again based on survey work, between 1-8%
>> of the
>> >> population used the Internet daily across a range
>> of very
>> >> different countries. With cheaper international
>> bandwidth,
>> >> these figures will increase slowly but surely.
>> Mobile
>> >> Internet will become cheaper and play an
>> increasingly large
>> >> role in people’s lives.
>> >>
>> >> Current ad spend on the Internet and SMS is tiny
>> but ad
>> >> money will migrate as it gets larger. This is
>> money that
>> >> will most likely be lost to newspapers which seem
>> the most
>> >> vulnerable as the media landscape’s tectonic
>> plates begin
>> >> to shift.
>> >>
>> >> So what can the African broadcaster do faced with
>> all of
>> >> this? There are two ways to stay in the game: by
>> using new
>> >> media to extend the appeal of interesting content
>> across all
>> >> platforms and by stealing new media’s best ideas
>> and using
>> >> them to survive. Unfortunately too few TV stations
>> have
>> >> invested in convincingly local TV content that
>> might well
>> >> provide the adhesive that would keep viewers
>> eyeballs glued
>> >> to the their channel.
>> >>
>> >> This article is a summary of a more detailed
>> analysis in
>> >> the recently published African Film and TV
>> Yearbook. A list
>> >> of contents can be found by clicking on the
>> following link:
>> >> http://www.balancingact-africa.com/yearbook.html
>> >>
>> >> The second part of the Yearbook contains a full
>> listing of
>> >> African film and television companies broken down
>> by country
>> >> as well as a section with useful international
>> addresses for
>> >> anyone in the sector in Africa. There is also two
>> specially
>> >> focused listings: one looks at Film Location
>> Agencies and
>> >> Screen Commissions across the continent and the
>> other lists
>> >> companies and education institutions providing
>> film and
>> >> television training.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
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>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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