CULTURE AND MEDIA > LIBYA
LibyaBlog, giving youth a voice Professional and independent www.enpi-info.eu media can play a decisive role in the process aimed at restructuring democratic and civil society within a country. New social media is no exception. The European Union has decided to support the creation of a young, responsible and active Libyan blogosphere, where Libyans can express themselves freely and build relationships with other bloggers around the world. Forty young Libyan journalists and activists have been trained, a website set up and more than 300 articles already published, many of which deal with controversial issues such as federalism, torture and human rights violations. After talking to the trainers and participants, an EU Neighbourhood Info Centre journalist has this report. Text by: Reda Fhelboom Pictures by: AFP © EU/Neighbourhood Info Centre
TRIPOLI - Things began to change with the emergence of videos and pictures that exposed the atrocities committed by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. It was the start of the February 17 revolution and attracting global attention was the first step which eventually led to the overthrow of one of the world’s most repressive regimes. The boom of new independent media that followed the fall of Gaddafi demonstrated the need of the Libyan people for access to independent information, after being deprived of their freedom of expression for so many years. The country’s media landscape was chaotic, and is still in fact evolving, with frequent changes at the top and a lack of professionalism. For this reason, many Libyans lost confidence in traditional media and turned instead to social netThis publication does works for information. not represent the But while many media organisations have been training their televiofficial view of the EC sion and radio staff, the social media environment remains very fluid or the EU institutions. and suffers from a deficiency of skills and know-how. It is here that EU Neighbourhood Info Centre The EC accepts no the European Union can offer its assistance, especially given the real Feature no. 95 influence on public opinion that such media can exert, particularly responsibility or This is a series of features on projects among young people. liability whatsoever funded by the EU, prepared by with regard to its journalists and photographers on the A young, responsible and active Libyan blogosphere content. ground or the EU Neighbourhood Libyan bloggers nowadays represent an alternative source of information and news coverage. Howeve, a lot of them have no experience Info Centre. of professional journalism and are not very familiar with key concepts © 2013 EU/Neighbourhood Info Centre such as verification of information and what constitutes defamation,
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LibyaBlog website: http://libyablog.org/
privacy violation and advocating violence. In order to increase their awareness of the impact that their statements can have, the EU has decided to engage in training activities and to support the creation of a young, responsible and active Libyan blogosphere, where Libyans can express themselves and forge relationships with bloggers abroad. The EU-supported LibyaBlog project aims at providing a free virtual space for young Libyan bloggers to express themselves through electronic media. The European Union has chosen France 24, Radio France Internationale and Radio Monte Carlo as its main partners and these organisations have worked together to create a new website covering news stories and publicising opinion articles. Young Libyan bloggers have been selected for training in editorial writing, text, images and video publishing, technical and editorial aspects of internet publication and more. Today, 40 bloggers have been recruited and trained from all over the country, from Benghazi to Tripoli, Misrata to Sabha, Alqtroon to Brega or Mizdah. To date, more than 300 articles have already been published on the website. Project manager Hadia Laghsini is a journalist from Radio France International. “Bloggers in Libya face many challenges, beginning with threats to their personal safety. The wounds of the war in Libya have not healed yet, there are huge quantities of weapons in the country, violence is still high and state institutions are not yet functioning properly. In this context, bloggers go out themselves to cover the events, and expose themselves to risks,” she explains. “But I’m happy with what we are achieving. LibyaBlog in itself is an accomplishment.” According to Mrs Laghsini, who is the administrator of the blog as well as its Facebook and Twitter pages, “there are no requirements for publishing articles, posting pictures or videos on the site, there is no minimum or maximum number of words and access to the blog is free.” Ségolène Malterre, a broadcast and internet journalist who works for the show ‘Observers’ on France 24, is one of trainers. One of her tasks is to train bloggers to make sure that the information, photos and videos published on the site are correct and accurate. “We have recruited different kinds of people. Some of them are journalists and work for mainstream media, others are just activists or amateurs – people who are not professionals, just passionate about new social media” No hate speech, discrimination or advocacy to violence Mrs Malterre makes a point of explaining that LibyaBlog is free from hate speech, discrimination and advocacy to violence, common factors in Libyan social media. She ensures that the trainers do not impose any priority in their selection of topics and it is up to the bloggers themselves to decide what kind of story they would like to write about. "We teach them the importance of the news, its value and different elements, but we do not dictate to them what needs to be written. France 24 has already used one blogger story from the website and that is a sign that the site is being followed up well, even from professional media, to access information," she concludes. Wisam Hasan, a 19-year-old from the city of Benghazi, is an amateur writer who began blogging in 2009. He heard about the project at the end of last year, sent a request to join the blog and was selected. "Being accepted has motivated me to pursue my talent of writing, it has made me feel like I have homework to do," says Wisam. “ Now I know how to work as part of a team, I know how to write an article, how to edit it, how to take a good picture or a video. But most of all, I know what needs to be done to make sure that my stories are accurate, credible. I know I have to verify my sources of information before publishing something:” “The voice of the Libyan people” For Wisam, the impact of the project will be long lasting. “LibyaBlog is a place where
“Now I know how to work as part of a team, I know how to write an article, how to edit it, how to take a good picture or a video. But most of all, I know what needs to be done to make sure that my stories are accurate, credible”.
“LibyaBlog is a place where free Libyan writers come together so that the voice of the Libyan people can be heard all over the world. Even if a dictator comes back, LibyaBlog will remain as the voice of the Libyan people” n Journalist Segolene Malterre(L) and Hadia Laghisini speak to Libyan journalists and bloggers during a Blogging and website building workshop
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“We have recruited different kinds of people. Some of them are journalists and work for mainstream media, others are just activists or amateurs – people who are not professionals, just passionate about new social media”
free Libyan writers come together so that the voice of the Libyan people can be heard all over the world. Even if a dictator comes back, LibyaBlog will remain as the voice of the Libyan people,” he says confidently. When asked about the challenges of the job, Wisam is adamant that a lack of recognition for the type of work he does is the main stumbling block. "Many people, even officials, do not consider blogging as journalism. They refuse to communicate with us, sometimes they even prevent us n Maha Ben Abeldhim(R) speakes with Libyan blogger Sarah Harb(L) during a from filming. This happens despite Blogging and website building workshop many TV channels considering LibyaBlog as one of their reliable sources of information. We have published many controversial stories on hot issues such as federalism, torture and human rights violations in Libya…. However, I was prevented from doing my job many times, and I think it’s a shame.”
LIBYABLOG http://libyablog.org/ https://www.facebook.com/MediaNeighbourhood The overall objective of the project is to contribute to stabilisation efforts in Libya, leading into the next elections, through developing skills in new media. The specific objective of the project is to support the creation of a young and active Libyan blogosphere where Libyans can express themselves and build relationships with other bloggers in the world The project intends to create a participatory website in Arabic to welcome the blog of future beneficiaries and to identify and train about 30 young Libyan bloggers and amateur to cover the election through the website.
Budget: €340 000 Duration: 6 months
To find out more: EU Neighbourhood Info Centre press pack - EU's response to the “Arab Spring”: The State-of-Play after Two Years – Libya http://www.enpi-info.eu/mainmed.php?id=344&id_type=3&lang_id=450 EU Neighborhood Info Centre - EU assistance to Libya: http://enpi-info.eu/medportal/news/latest/27475/Libya:-EU-adopts-%E2%82%AC10-million-package-for-education,-administrationand-civil-society EU Neighborhood Info Centre page on Libya http://www.enpi-info.eu/countrymed.php?country=11 EU Neighborhood Info Centre thematic page: Audiovisual and Media http://www.enpi-info.eu/thememed.php?subject=9
EU Neighbourhood Info Centre An ENPI project The EU Neighbourhood Info Centre is an EU-funded Regional Information and Communication project highlighting the partnership between the EU and Neighbouring countries. The project is managed by Action Global Communications.
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