Just recently, my organization developed a proposal for a community radio station up in Puntland, Somalia. The underlying theory is similar to what we’ve talked about — that this radio station would be close to communities, engage them in debate, speak specifically to their concerns, educate them about their government, and do it all independent of the forces that often corrupt or silence media. Can it work? Will the government allow for it? It’s hard to say, especially since Puntland’s new constitution places not-so-subtle disclaimers on its article establishing freedom of the media — basically that media is free from government interference…unless its coverage contravenes Islamic law. Islamic law and a state of emergency are the two most common qualifiers to most freedoms found in the new constitution. Given this context, and from Andrea’s description a much deeper culture of corruption in Mozambique, it might be interesting to see how both societies would respond to something like community radio.

We don’t know enough yet about how to use social media, in my opinion. Social media proponents often believe it can provide a technological solution to a political problem. This is not true and programs based on this flawed assumption almost always fail. Use social media as part of a DFGG program – for example as a way to collect and disseminate information. It can’t be the central part of the program, however. You still need to do the hard work of mobilization. That takes people, not smartphones.