Broadcasting Village Bloggers

Rocketboom is seeking a new host(ess) as their lovely anchor leaves for L.A.  Hopefully the show won't lose its quirky, Stewart-like content in the transition. 

Among the episodes I've been meaning to mention is from a month back, a show on The Nata Village blog.   A world traveler (who also happened to be a media producer) was touched by what he saw and helped the Botswana village create a blog picturing and describing the local life and struggle with HIV/AIDS.  Videos aired on Current likewise helped cast hipster attention on an otherwise overlooked African village. 

The common Craigslist storyline of the Internet cutting out the middle man could apply here.  Readers/viewers can make a direct donation to Nata Village, bypassing larger, potentially more bureaucratic, donation organizations.  Who can/will scale this idea to other villages that are not as lucky to accidently host such a media-savy visitor is one problem to ponder.  Another stumbling block is whether a flood of village blogs will dampen the tear ducts.   

In fact, most of the blog entries are not terribly dramatic, like the sensationalized stories Americans are accustomed to viewing.  And perhaps that reality-show-like realism is what's effective.   The simple statements and photographs ring as true.

Regardless of any impact on donations, blogs such as this one can play a meaningful role in dispelling misconceptions -- broadcasting not a foreign society limited to naked tribes people wearing face paint, but rather a modern African people, mixing traditional dress with Nike t-shirts, facing everyday life and problems.

Comments

[JON]

Wow. What a fantastic post!

Thanks so much for the support!

We appreciate it!

I'm adding you to our friends of Nata village section!

Cheers,
JON.
natavillage.org

[Melody Jenkins]

Thank you for your insightful comments. We are not journalists but simply people who want to help our village. We could put photo after after of dying people and dirty children but we are trying to share the whole picture of Nata. It's true we are in the middle of and AIDS pandemic, but we are more than that. Thank you for seeing us for what we truly are. All the best, Melody Jenkins, Seloma Tiro, and Martha Ramaditse