Pambazuka News: Audio and video now available

Press Release

Pambazuka News: Audio and video now available

Pambazuka News readers can now not only read about what’s going on in Africa, but also listen to the voices of Africa, with this week’s release of the first in a series of regular audio offerings.

Fahamu, the producers of Pambazuka News, are introducing the new feature as the first step to incorporating regular multimedia content on the Pambazuka News site, which will also include video through a partnership with Raised Voices, a collection of online testimonies of people from the global South.

The recordings, available as a podcast – the term used for a series of multimedia files distributed over the internet, will consist of interviews, readings and personal stories.

Firoze Manji, Fahamu Director, said: “We are launching this podcast because there has been an astounding growth in the distribution of multimedia files over the internet, but to a large extent the voice of Africa is missing from this dialogue. We believe it is important for these voices to be heard.”

This week’s launch consists of two episodes, now available from the Pambazuka News website at

The first episode consists of an interview with Sizani Ngubane of the Rural Women’s Movement in South Africa. The RWM represents 500 grassroots women’s organisations in Kwa-Zulu Natal that fight against the abuse of women and land evictions. In the interview, Ngubane talks about women in the new South Africa and how their rights have been eroded by unpopular economic policies.

The second release is a recording of Pan-African Movement Director Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem giving his views on the Millennium Development Goals. Abdul-Raheem has been a regular Pambazuka News columnist for the last few years and this is the first time his columns have been recorded live. Tajudeen poses the question: With the world economy rigged in favour of the rich nations, can Africa deliver on the MDGs?

The Raised Voices Link

Raised Voices is a sister project of Pambazuka News. It is a set of filmed testimonies from people in the global South and marginalised communities in the North talking about the social and environmental justice issues that affect them.

It's a unique set of statements coming directly from the people most impacted by issues such as land rights, climate change, oil exploitation, neoliberalism and more. These are the people most affected but least heard in decision-making. Raised Voices seeks to promote these voices injecting them into the public sphere where they can take their rightful place in directing discussion and shaping debate.

A selection of these testimonies will be available from the Pambazuka News website and are available in full from http://www.raisedvoices.net/

Listening Online

People wishing to listen to the episodes can do so from the Pambazuka News website using any MP3 software (such as QuickTime), or can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or other software.

The introduction of the feature is an experiment and as we are aware that many people may not be familiar with listening online, we have developed a Frequently Asked Question page at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/broadcasts/faqs.php

Here you can find answers to the questions:

- What is a podcast?
- Can I listen to the broadcasts without subscribing to the podcast?
- How can I subscribe to Pambazuka podcasts?
- Can I broadcast the Pambazuka podcasts on my radio station?
- The podcast sounds muffled – why is this?
- Can I copy the Pambazuka podcasts?

Contact [email][email protected] for more information or if you have technical problems.

Calling All Podcasters and Filmmakers in Africa

Have you got audio or video on social justice issues that you want to reach a wider audience? Would you like to make podcasts and film but don't know where to start? Do you work in community radio or TV and want to get your work on the internet or are you looking for exciting programming from other sources? Get in touch with Pambazuka News and we can provide material, promote your work and in some cases help you to produce it.

Your work can be linked from our website and mentioned in our roundup of African multimedia. You could also create films and audio for the Pambazuka multimedia project. We're particularly interested in hearing from people who are non-professionals as we want to support media from the grassroots whose messages and voices are not being heard. Pambazuka News is also developing a set of resources for beginners to help you get started and techniques to make film and podcasts accessible for all parts of the community to learn to use. So if you're interested get in touch with our multimedia coordinator Heidi Bachram at [email][email protected] for more information.

Heidi Bachram
Fahamu multimedia coordinator
[email][email protected]

iTunes® and QuickTime® are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

The production of the podcasts has been supported by a grant from HIVOS Netherlands.