AudiencScapes

Reject Magazine reports on topics and regions neglected by the
mainstream Kenyan press.  Recent awards recognize how the publication
fills a void in the country’s media landscape. More from Dinfin Mulupi.

In the past several years, aid donors and others focused on improving lives in developing countries have been touting social media's ability to empower citizens to foment social change.  Two recent high-profile examples are the “Arab Spring” and popular unrest in China, where social media clearly played roles.  But what about places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where access to social media remains very limited, if not absent altogether? Caldwell Bishop reports from a recent event on the upcoming elections in Congo............

Zimbabwe’s president is eager to hold elections soon. The SADC, civil society groups and advocates for a free press are all urging him and his party to implement media reforms first.

The U.S.-supported Sudan Radio Service is actively encouraging its audience to vote in the upcoming referendum. The station has struggled to find voices in favor of peace if the results don’t conform with their wishes.

by Hannah Bowen, Africa Project Manager InterMediaLUSAKA, Zambia -- Traveling in East Africa this month, I’m hearing nonstop coverage of upcoming elections -- in Rwanda in August, Tanzania in October, Uganda next year, plus a referendum on the Kenyan constitution (not to mention a referendum on Southern Sudanese independence and the polls recently concluded in Burundi and Ethiopia). One of the recurring themes in all of this coverage concerns whether and how mobile phones will make the processes more transparent.