The Political Crisis in Madagascar As told by Citizen Media
Dec 05, 2014
The Political Crisis in Madagascar As told by Citizen Media
Madagas..car ?
Zooming in on Madagascar in 2009
Outline of the Crisis:
Origins: • Land deal scandal • Endemic Poverty under
Ravalomanana“Yes we Can” shirt at protest:
inspired by citizen involvement in US.
Power shift, March 17th: • Protest quiet down March 17th: Military driven coup shift
power to Rajoelina. • 150 casualties: Mg from 100 to
144th in Global Peace index.• Protests against Coup still
ongoing, violent military repression
• Polarized local media used as tools for propaganda,
• Lacking international in-depth coverage
Why it matters to the rest of the world
• Study shows that only 24% of Malagasy want democracy now. An engaged citizen movement at first, now complete disillusion & contempt for politics.
• Resentment towards international community, suspected to be lobbying one camp or the other.
• A Sound Agriculture strategy for both developped/developping nations to counter next food crisis.
Foko Madagascar
• After TED Africa 2007 conference,
highlight and promote grassroots efforts for Env. & Social Change in Madagascar
• Change the narrative/branding on Madagascar: “Open for business”
• Expanding digital literacy and presence of resource-limited Malagasy community: Rising Voices Grant.
• political crisis and violence broke out: adapt
Blogging Outreach: photos & videos.
aggregation
Microblogging from local residents
SMS crisis reports and fact-checking
In The US Media
Localization of Reports (mostly from Antananarivo)
Ushahidi Madagascar map:
Maturing Media Community
• 20 million people, only 160,000 Internet users & 2.2 millions mobile phone users (lit rate: 69%)
• Cyber-activism (petition for release of jailed protester Razily & Transparency) threatens Gvt as proposal to “regulate” internet content is proposed.
• Need a structure to protect journalists and bloggers.