Trouble in Somalia: New Media − New Hope?

“Due to the current conditions in my country, I must unfortunately cancel my participation in the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum.” That was the reaction of Asha Hagi, winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize 2008, to the battle between government troops and the radical Islamic militia in Somalia, which has lead to hundreds of deaths in the last few days, including journalists. On May 22, a reporter of the independent radio broadcaster “Shabelle” was shot and killed during their report on a confrontation in the capital city Mogadishu. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the acting director of the station, Mohamed Amiin Adow has confirmed his participation at the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum. He will be delivering a keynote speech on Thursday, June 4 at 2:30 p.m. about “new media and diaspora intervention in conflict resolution: the case of Somalia”. Adow will explain how classic and new media in one of the poorest and least developed regions of the world can contribute to resolving conflicts.

Freedom of information and freedom of the press is extremely limited in Somalia. However, the dominating influence of the predominantly government-controlled media could soon be coming to an end as international Internet portals, blogs and other forms of new media continue to increase their informational offers to people in Somalia. A large percentage of these are produced by diaspora Somalis, with the goal of offsetting the information blockade on the Horn of Africa. What does thise mean for Somalia? Is this a way to influence the groups that are involved in conflicts? These questions will be discussed in Bonn by the Africa correspondent from the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung (FAZ), Thomas Scheen, Omar Faruk Osman, Chairman of the Somali Journalists Association and Member of the Board of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and President of the Federation of African Journalists (AFJ), as well as Abbas Gassem, founder of www.insidesomalia.org.

The second Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum will focus on “Conflict Prevention in the Multimedia Age”. Along with the 50 individual events, 900 participants from around the world are expected. Co-host of the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum is the Foundation for International Dialogue of the Sparkasse in Bonn. The convention is also supported by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the government of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the city of Bonn, DHL, The Economist, Intermedia, KD Deutsche Rheinschifffahrt AG and the dpa group companies news aktuell and picture alliance.