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BBC: BBC Hausa special programming examines power of the internetMar 03, 2010 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- As part of the BBC's international news services' SuperPower season, BBC Hausa is launching special programming that explores the ways in which the internet is transforming the world. The BBC Hausa daily multimedia output - on radio and online on bbchausa.com - focuses on how the internet is affecting the Hausa-speaking community across the globe, from villages in Northern Nigeria to diaspora audiences in Europe. Head of BBC Hausa, Jamilah Tangaza, says: "Today journalists have to deal with an emerging trend in the world of media, where the citizen slowly gets ahead of the reporter, and user-generated content forms exciting basis for powerful reports, be it local or international media. "A text message or video clip can rock the world, while local communities are talking to those in power and the superpowers... "BBC Hausa is keen to embrace this brave new world." While mobile phones are becoming increasingly popular in Nigeria, usage is largely limited to voice calls and SMS, and for some areas becoming connected to the internet can be a major challenge. In Gagabadau at 06.30 GMT on Monday 15 March, BBC Hausa's Ibrahim Isa revisits the village of Gitata in Nasarawa, Northern Nigeria, where, back in November 2009, BBC Hausa provided villagers with two internet-enabled mobile phones to see how the device can change their lives. The BBC's other international news services, which closely follow the progress of the initiative - BBC World Service English and BBC World News television - will also be in Gitata, reporting the experience to the global audiences. Jamilah Tangaza explains: "Gitata continues our Labarinku A Tafinku (Your World In Your Palms) story, which started last summer. "By giving village communities in Nigeria mobile phones, we are empowering them. I also see it as some sort of partnership between journalists and citizens, and I am hopeful it will benefit all involved." Exploring the other end of the connectivity scale, BBC Hausa looks at the effect of the internet on young urbanites and finds out what it means to them to keep connected. A second-generation Hausa girl living in London, Khadija Ahmed, enjoys surfing the net and social networking and spends several hours a day on the internet via her iPod, which she uses to chat, visit Facebook, exchange pictures and listen to music. Yet Khadija still finds time to study - she is an A-student who hopes to read Law at Oxford University. The popularity of online social networking, particularly sites such as Facebook, is also rapidly increasing in Northern Nigeria, and many young people use BBC Hausa's Facebook page as their meeting point where they exchange views on topics ranging from sports to politics to social issues. Jamilah Tangaza talks to Khadija in Zamani Riga at 06.30 on Tuesday 16 March. Ahmed Wakil asks youngsters in Abuja about the ways in which mobile phones and online social networking are changing social dynamics and habits - on Kungiyar Zumunta at 06.30 on Wednesday 17 March. BBC Hausa also looks at the non-mobile generation, the unconnected, with Nazir Mika'ilu reporting on whether the older generation is missing out on what many believe is a tool of empowerment, in Jiya Ba Yau Ba at 06.30 GMT on Friday 19 March. To find out what the world is talking about, BBC Hausa also joins the BBC's other international news services in SuperPower Nation at 13.45 GMT on Thursday 18 March. The ground-breaking global conversation will take place in front of a live audience at Shoreditch Town Hall in London and online via bbc.com/superpower and across the BBC's multilingual news output. BBC Hausa's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi will be at the event, talking to Hausa-speakers living in London about how they feel the internet has affected Hausa-speaking communities around the world. Audiences can watch, listen and take part in SuperPower on bbchausa.com, or in the English language via bbc.com/superpower, Facebook, and Twitter @BBC_SuperPower. IBBC World Service International Publicity ((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to [email protected]. |