The symposium aims to introduce and discuss the concepts and practices of community radios and their relevance to the Horn of Africa. The intent is to build on what is happening in areas of social development in the Horn and to reflect on the relevance of community radios in advancing social development initiatives. This will be accompanied by relevant experiences elsewhere in Africa that could provide learning opportunities to the Horn.

Egypt is talking about free Internet access. Beginning early next year, Egypt's 60 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will not charge customers for basic web access. This follows on the free service provided by ABSA in South Africa - although other South African ISPs still charge access fees. Hopefully the trend will follow through to other African states.

SANGONeT is a dynamic organisation, which facilitates the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by people and organisations working for economic and social development and justice in the southern African region.

The terrorist attacks in Manhattan, Washington, DC and the Pittsburgh area constitute the most tragic and violent events ever perpetrated in the United States. As with other tragedies, conspiracy theories, hoaxes, and other forms of misinformation crop up almost immediately, playing on people's hopes, fears, and appetite for amazing tales. E-mail has multiplied the speed and extent to which hoaxes, rumors and urban legends spread.

Liberian authorities released popular talk show host Max Jlateh on Tuesday, one day after he was detained for allowing callers to express sentiments perceived by the state as "anti-American", a diplomatic source confirmed to IRIN.

Authorities in parts of southern Africa have pursued the harassment of journalists despite efforts to improve the situation, a report by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) was quoted as saying on Thursday.

The Zimbabwean media was dominated by a variety of interpretations of two election results and the increase in international pressure on President Mugabe and his government. An upsurge in political violence, which claimed at least three deaths during the week, was also widely reported in the print media. However, the perspectives from which these topics were reported once again revealed the state media’s enslavement to government’s interpretation of the events.

The Internet has long been staked out as the territory of free expression. Many organisations and websites are dedicated to the fight for internet liberty and online privacy; many activists have used the 'net as an effective tool to save lives. Privacy and encryption were necessary tools in that process. This article discusses how recent events may affect the privacy of your internet sojourns in the near future.

This project is an effort to provide software interfaces which are accessible to the many different language groups in South Africa. The focus is on software which is readily available, low cost and open source. It might be nice to type a document in a program which uses your mother tongue. Some translations have been completed, others are in progress and volunteers for translation are needed! (South Africa has 11 official languages). Please inform KFS if you have heard of similar projects in Africa.

Bridges.org provides an update on South Africa's Draft Interception and Monitoring Bill. It contains in-depth background material as well as the latest press release. If you are interested in online privacy and security, take a look.

A recent visitor to Africa speaks of his involvement in the Highway Africa Conference and his other experiences of technology on our continent. It provides interesting examples of how the Internet can be used in the struggle for freedom of expression and good governance.

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.

A group of staff journalists from Zimbabwe's Daily News were brutally attacked earlier this week as they tried to report assaults by self-styled war veterans on white farmers in the country.

The Eritrean government arrested six former members of the ruling party and closed eight privately run newspapers on Tuesday. An Eritrean official told IRIN that the six had been arrested "for putting the country in danger and causing confusion". He confirmed that the privately run newspapers had been "suspended temporarily", but would be allowed to reopen "once they learn to abide by Eritrean press laws".

Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)'s Media Lab brings b l o g d e x to the Web. This project is all about a growing trend towards individual filtering and editing of commercial media. Imagine putting your online resources/bookmarks - plus commentary - on a web site. It provides resources for searching, accessing, creating, publishing and navigating weblogs. Read on: and use/start a blog!

Journalists attending a Media Institute of Southern Africa Annual General Meeting in Lusaka have condemned the brutal attack on three journalists and a driver from the Daily News in Zimbabwe last week.

Zimbabwe's Minister of Health has predicted that a full census next year will confirm the government's suspicions that the population is not growing. Whether or not this is the case, a decline in the population's growth rate will have a profound effect on the nations' finances and on sectors such as education and employment.

Seven opposition party leaders in court for allegedly defaming President Frederick Chiluba by calling him a thief argued in the Lusaka High Court on Tuesday that their arrests were “selective” and therefore unfair.

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.

The start of criminal proceedings against two Zambian journalists and two political figures on charges of defaming President Frederick Chiluba has triggered off a heated debate on the role of the media in societies undergoing transition.