#1 from 2012: Tuning in to Facebook’s Global Frequency
Our Top Ten Blog Posts by Readership in 2012
Originally published on January 4, 2012
Though I work full-time on social media for the World Bank, my career started in public broadcasting. “Radio is the modern version of oral tradition,” a former journalism professor of mine would say, likening radio to the way in which people have communicated for years: using stories, narratives, to connect, to break down complex ideas into concrete pieces. That line resonated with me, summing up the power of radio to connect people using the shared experience of a broadcast.
Demonstrations this week in Cote d’Ivoire prompt a number of troubling questions, including what it means to be a “state broadcaster” when who heads the state is in dispute. The influence of state-run broadcasters may be diminishing across much of sub-Saharan Africa, but their potential impact on fragile democratic institutions has been highlighted this week in west Africa. Who controls the airwaves may turn out to be instrumental in who shapes public perceptions, and through them, political reality – the protestors in Cote d’Ivoire know this, choosing of all institutions as the focus of their protest, the state-run television station. 
.jpg)
A few weeks I had a chance to return to Nicaragua for a brief visit. The 
The push for open government is not of course limited to 
More than a decade has passed since Indonesia embarked on the transition from authoritarian rule to building democratic institutions. This week, CommGAP met with Santoso, Managing Director of 
It's been a long time coming but Biso na Biso, the first ever indigenous language community radio station in the Congo Basin, is now live on air..jpg)
As a past 
In the developed world, radio is a more or less dying medium. In the age of iPods, who needs to switch on a radio to listen to music? Much less to listen to political talk, which you get anywhere from your local newspaper (preferably online) to cable television (also online, of course).