This is our presentation:
All good things have to come to an end
14 years ago
27 November 2009
24 November 2009
Blogging as a learning experience
As a first-time-blogger I have gained a totally new experience. When we started I had no idea where this process would lead. I learned that blogging (at least for this course purpose) required overall planning, background work, structuring your thoughts, techniques and thinking about how to make it easy-to-read and appealing for the readers.
However the most striking discovery was that blogging is sharing information AND opinions IN dialogue. It sounds simple, but it means a lot. It’s not enough if I just write a great summary of history with some links. In addition I have to find an interesting point of view and write it short and sweet that someone is willing to sacrifice their time to read it. Then starts the two-way communication part. Someone comments my post and I want to comment in a way that provides value for the dialogue.
I’m grateful that we kind of had a ready made virtual community with motivation (or Kaja’s order ;) ) to interact. I learned a lot from others’ comments and commenting others. One-way communication would have felt very poor. So thank you my blogmates.
However the most striking discovery was that blogging is sharing information AND opinions IN dialogue. It sounds simple, but it means a lot. It’s not enough if I just write a great summary of history with some links. In addition I have to find an interesting point of view and write it short and sweet that someone is willing to sacrifice their time to read it. Then starts the two-way communication part. Someone comments my post and I want to comment in a way that provides value for the dialogue.
I’m grateful that we kind of had a ready made virtual community with motivation (or Kaja’s order ;) ) to interact. I learned a lot from others’ comments and commenting others. One-way communication would have felt very poor. So thank you my blogmates.
23 November 2009
Lessons Learnt
Like Tiiu, I also felt somewhat dumbfounded when I first heard our group’s topic. Surely there was nothing written about PR in Africa – or even that many attempts at practicing PR on this continent? But gradually, after the initial shock, my attitude changed and the more I researched the more I started having fun, too. I’ve always thought that in order to write a blog one should have an interesting topic that would provoke you to say something fairly often. And here was the chance to do just that with this theme.
For me, blogging was easy. I honestly never had trouble coming up with things to post about Africa or my area of specialisation, Egypt. There is even history of PR in Africa, as I discovered, but in the end the trouble was actually having to choose what to include and exclude. In hindsight, the time was simply too short to do everything.
What I did learn, then, was about all the challenges that African PR practices face. The settings are completely different from Finland, as in Africa you have to deal with many different cultures and religions and with even a greater number of languages and local dialects (not to forget illiteracy, either). These are the ones on top of my mind after this short experience, I’m sure there’d still be lots to discover.
For me, blogging was easy. I honestly never had trouble coming up with things to post about Africa or my area of specialisation, Egypt. There is even history of PR in Africa, as I discovered, but in the end the trouble was actually having to choose what to include and exclude. In hindsight, the time was simply too short to do everything.
What I did learn, then, was about all the challenges that African PR practices face. The settings are completely different from Finland, as in Africa you have to deal with many different cultures and religions and with even a greater number of languages and local dialects (not to forget illiteracy, either). These are the ones on top of my mind after this short experience, I’m sure there’d still be lots to discover.
Last but not least
It's the last week of our course and tomorrow our blog will be four weeks old :)
I was the first one to post here, and now I start wrapping it up. With our last postings, we all will try to answer two questions:
a) What did we find out about PR in Africa?
b) What did we learn from blogging?
When I think of our first lecture, I remember I was almost speechless and probably rolling my eyes when we were told that during next four weeks our task will be blogging on public relations in Africa. I had no idea how we would be able to do this!!! PR and Africa!!! Now when I look at our blog and my own postings, I am happy to see the result, but at the same time I can also say that the time was far too short to cover all different topics, issues and ideas that I came across while searching for the material. I concentrated on PR in South Africa, and among other things I learned, I consider the approach that one could find traces of PR in the traditions of South Africa that are centuries old to be the most interesting one.
From the point of view of blogging, I think I learned most from reading the blogs of other groups. I didn't read the blogs just for entertainment (blogs are usually "easy reading" or entertainment for me) but tried to analyze them (being inspired by Kaja who emphasized several times that a message has to be created keeping receiver(s) in mind). Whenever I found something I really liked, I asked myself various questions - why I like it? what makes it special? how it is different from messages that are "normal"?. And I did the same when I saw something that seemed strange or even annoying (later didn't happen often). I think that it has helped me in creating my own messages, and I am also aware that there is still room for improvement :)
I was the first one to post here, and now I start wrapping it up. With our last postings, we all will try to answer two questions:
a) What did we find out about PR in Africa?
b) What did we learn from blogging?
When I think of our first lecture, I remember I was almost speechless and probably rolling my eyes when we were told that during next four weeks our task will be blogging on public relations in Africa. I had no idea how we would be able to do this!!! PR and Africa!!! Now when I look at our blog and my own postings, I am happy to see the result, but at the same time I can also say that the time was far too short to cover all different topics, issues and ideas that I came across while searching for the material. I concentrated on PR in South Africa, and among other things I learned, I consider the approach that one could find traces of PR in the traditions of South Africa that are centuries old to be the most interesting one.
From the point of view of blogging, I think I learned most from reading the blogs of other groups. I didn't read the blogs just for entertainment (blogs are usually "easy reading" or entertainment for me) but tried to analyze them (being inspired by Kaja who emphasized several times that a message has to be created keeping receiver(s) in mind). Whenever I found something I really liked, I asked myself various questions - why I like it? what makes it special? how it is different from messages that are "normal"?. And I did the same when I saw something that seemed strange or even annoying (later didn't happen often). I think that it has helped me in creating my own messages, and I am also aware that there is still room for improvement :)
Photo from here
Findings of the search of PR in Ethiopia
How to prove when it’s hard to find proofs? We westerners always like to measure and rank and analyse. UK-based Gyroscope consultancy has created an “Africa Communication Index” ACI, to measure the extent and effectiveness that PR can be conducted in different African countries. Well here’s a fact for you - Ethiopia scores 22.51 out of 100. (In comparison Kenya scores 68.77, Egypt 80.92 and South-Africa 89.35. Source: The Global Public Relations Handbook, p 301 307)
So there is very little scientific PR in Ethiopia. I would call it some kind of pre-stage of PR and Grunig would call it one-way pressagentry/publicity model (lecture notes
: Developments of PR processes). There is just no need for academic PR concept in most of the Ethiopians’ lives. Majority of the population in are still tackling with their basic needs. When people lack their basic needs, such as water and shelter, they simply cannot be interested in some organizations image and reputation. I guess Public Relations means Personal Relations in Ethiopia.
Also other society related factors effect on the stage of PR. Political factors are unstable, democracy is debatable and the government controls the media. There is both political and organizational corruption. There is a huge diversity of social and cultural factors. Ethiopia was never really colonized as other African countries, besides Liberian. Thus Ethiopia doesn’t even have mother country’s effects on PR history or its help in PR’s development either.
Nevertheless the future might bring some changes. The Economist magazine predicts Ethiopia as 4th fastest economy for 2009. Managed PR exist already in big international companies with excellent PR resources and their rich and educated stakeholders who have purchasing power. Addis Ababa University has a Faculty of Journalism and communications. When the GDP grows the Faculty’s web page contents may change from “Lorem ipsum” text to something else. LinksAmazon that advertises “Be the First to Register and List your Website for free in Marketing and Advertising - Public Relations Ethiopia category” may get registers.
And APRA may get its Ethiopian public relations professional association.
My search of the PR in Ethiopia has ended with this blog, but this search has raised my interest and I’ll be following the developments. I hope you’ll keep me company. Dähna hunu!
So there is very little scientific PR in Ethiopia. I would call it some kind of pre-stage of PR and Grunig would call it one-way pressagentry/publicity model (lecture notes
: Developments of PR processes). There is just no need for academic PR concept in most of the Ethiopians’ lives. Majority of the population in are still tackling with their basic needs. When people lack their basic needs, such as water and shelter, they simply cannot be interested in some organizations image and reputation. I guess Public Relations means Personal Relations in Ethiopia.Also other society related factors effect on the stage of PR. Political factors are unstable, democracy is debatable and the government controls the media. There is both political and organizational corruption. There is a huge diversity of social and cultural factors. Ethiopia was never really colonized as other African countries, besides Liberian. Thus Ethiopia doesn’t even have mother country’s effects on PR history or its help in PR’s development either.
Nevertheless the future might bring some changes. The Economist magazine predicts Ethiopia as 4th fastest economy for 2009. Managed PR exist already in big international companies with excellent PR resources and their rich and educated stakeholders who have purchasing power. Addis Ababa University has a Faculty of Journalism and communications. When the GDP grows the Faculty’s web page contents may change from “Lorem ipsum” text to something else. LinksAmazon that advertises “Be the First to Register and List your Website for free in Marketing and Advertising - Public Relations Ethiopia category” may get registers.
And APRA may get its Ethiopian public relations professional association.
My search of the PR in Ethiopia has ended with this blog, but this search has raised my interest and I’ll be following the developments. I hope you’ll keep me company. Dähna hunu!
22 November 2009
Media and PR Challenges during Colonial Times
What has not yet been touched in this blog is the fact that most African states are old colonies of European countries. This post is based on an article that can be found in Kaja’s blog.
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) ended up under the administration of the British Colonial Office in 1923. In the colonial times, communications were managed by the means of print, film, and radio. These are a few ways in which the Colonial Office tried to tackle the challenges that African PR faced (and still faces today), namely illiteracy and the multitude of different languages and dialects.
Print
The Northern Rhodesian administration started to produce a government newspaper for Africans in 1936. This was done in an effort to manage communication primarily with African miners. The paper was called Mutende (meaning “peace” in the Bemba language), and it was designed for an African population of 1,366,00 of which 10% were literate. The paper was published in simple English and in the four African languages – Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, and Tonga – spoken by the largest groups of people. Mutende contained global and local news and articles, sport, a women’s page, a health page, a children’s page, competitions, job and commercial advertisements, English lessons and letters from Africans. The paper was criticised about it not allowing its readers full freedom of expression as their letters concerning chiefs, Europeans and the government were not published. Nonetheless, the paper provided a platform for new opinion leaders, the educated Africans to demonstrate their language and polemical skills and also acted as a long-term agent of change, inducting its readers into the social norms of western society.
Film
Africans on the Copperbelt had been exposed to Hollywood entertainment films since 1928, while the British Colonial Office had also been interested in the use of films in adult education since 1927. Adult education was a popular topic in the 1930s, and there were positive experiences from mass education programmes elsewhere that urged the British to take on this endeavour. They saw both films and broadcasting as ways of “spreading thought among the natives” and overcoming the challenge of illiteracy. Cinema was designed to help the illiterate Africans to adjust to the coming of Western capitalist society with its alien social and economic standards.
Radio
During WW2 only a few Africans had access to radios and numerous technical troubles interfered with transmission, which caused broadcasting to be essentially experimental. Most listened in on communal sets; at the end of WW2 there were approximately 200-300 community receivers in welfare halls, and bomas throughout the country. Halls were crowded and noisy, and the programme in each language did not last longer than 7-10 minutes before it was repeated in another language. There was still enthusiasm about the potential of radio for mass education after WW2. By 1950, broadcasting hours had reached 24.5 hrs a week with programmes being transmitted in six of the main languages.
--
Smyth, R. (2000). The Genesis of Public Relations in British Colonial Practice. In Public Relations Review 27 (2001), pp. 149-161.
Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) ended up under the administration of the British Colonial Office in 1923. In the colonial times, communications were managed by the means of print, film, and radio. These are a few ways in which the Colonial Office tried to tackle the challenges that African PR faced (and still faces today), namely illiteracy and the multitude of different languages and dialects.
The Northern Rhodesian administration started to produce a government newspaper for Africans in 1936. This was done in an effort to manage communication primarily with African miners. The paper was called Mutende (meaning “peace” in the Bemba language), and it was designed for an African population of 1,366,00 of which 10% were literate. The paper was published in simple English and in the four African languages – Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, and Tonga – spoken by the largest groups of people. Mutende contained global and local news and articles, sport, a women’s page, a health page, a children’s page, competitions, job and commercial advertisements, English lessons and letters from Africans. The paper was criticised about it not allowing its readers full freedom of expression as their letters concerning chiefs, Europeans and the government were not published. Nonetheless, the paper provided a platform for new opinion leaders, the educated Africans to demonstrate their language and polemical skills and also acted as a long-term agent of change, inducting its readers into the social norms of western society.
Film
Africans on the Copperbelt had been exposed to Hollywood entertainment films since 1928, while the British Colonial Office had also been interested in the use of films in adult education since 1927. Adult education was a popular topic in the 1930s, and there were positive experiences from mass education programmes elsewhere that urged the British to take on this endeavour. They saw both films and broadcasting as ways of “spreading thought among the natives” and overcoming the challenge of illiteracy. Cinema was designed to help the illiterate Africans to adjust to the coming of Western capitalist society with its alien social and economic standards.
Radio
During WW2 only a few Africans had access to radios and numerous technical troubles interfered with transmission, which caused broadcasting to be essentially experimental. Most listened in on communal sets; at the end of WW2 there were approximately 200-300 community receivers in welfare halls, and bomas throughout the country. Halls were crowded and noisy, and the programme in each language did not last longer than 7-10 minutes before it was repeated in another language. There was still enthusiasm about the potential of radio for mass education after WW2. By 1950, broadcasting hours had reached 24.5 hrs a week with programmes being transmitted in six of the main languages.
--
Smyth, R. (2000). The Genesis of Public Relations in British Colonial Practice. In Public Relations Review 27 (2001), pp. 149-161.
19 November 2009
World's First Arabic Domain Name to Egypt
Egypt has taken a leap forward in the world of the Internets this week by applying to register the first all-Arabic domain name. Egypt’s information technology minister, Tarek Kamel says the measure will make the Internet accessible to the millions in the region who are unable to access an Internet dominated by Latin characters, so this is indeed a huge advancement.
The application was sent in on the very first day that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an Internet oversight agency, opened the door for registering non-Latin script domains. So far six countries have submitted applications for domains in three languages.
The Egyptian government has filed an application to register the domain “.masr”, written entirely in Arabic. This name means “.Egypt”.
--
El-Sheik, S. (2009). Egypt Applies for First Arabic Domain Name. In The Times of India, 16 Nov 2009.
The application was sent in on the very first day that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an Internet oversight agency, opened the door for registering non-Latin script domains. So far six countries have submitted applications for domains in three languages.
The Egyptian government has filed an application to register the domain “.masr”, written entirely in Arabic. This name means “.Egypt”.
--
El-Sheik, S. (2009). Egypt Applies for First Arabic Domain Name. In The Times of India, 16 Nov 2009.
18 November 2009
2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
Searching for international news, like BBC and CNN, gave me a wider view on the issue. I could also sense some worries as it is going to be the first time when football's treasured prize will be played in Africa. For example, one BBC reporter is concerned about the spread of HIV infections and claims that calls are growing for South Africa to legalize prostitution at least during the month long event. I also found a long article that expresses worries on several issues: whether the football stadiums will be ready on time, crime rate, overall poverty of the country, etc. The other journalists worry about frequent power cuts, growing market for child-trafficking, traffic problems, fake tickets, World Cup venues workers strike, shortage of accommodation, etc.
All in all, I cannot say that all news coming from South Africa is positive and international news is negative, but one can trace certain trends. Will positive news from South African government feeding the communication flow contribute to the success of 2010 FIFA World Cup?
The photo below is taken from the webpage of The Guardian, the whole gallery is here. Take a look, and think for a while ... What is reality? How is it created?
17 November 2009
International marketing logo
On November 6, 2009 (a bit more than ten days ago) the government of South Africa approved the new international marketing logo for South Africa that replaces about 70 logos that were primarily used by the International Marketing Council (IMC) and SA Tourism to market South Africa abroad. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said, "This decision takes the country's marketing to new heights, as we get ready to welcome the world to our shores as hosts of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals.". It is said in the press release issued by the Government Communication and Information System that the logo was a culmination of a comprehensive process of consultation between provinces, cities and national departments to align around one brand positioning and a single identity on the international stage. The new logo will not replace the Government Coat of Arms but is purely for the purpose of nation marketing initiatives. The new logo is the result of an 18-month South Africa Alignment project, led by South African Tourism and the International Marketing Council, to align Brand South Africa and ensure that national, provincial and local government co-operate to ensure that the “look and feel” of SA is the same overseas.
Taking into account the diversity of different languages and cultures present in South Africa, having this new logo seems to be a good idea. Let's keep our fingers crossed that it will help make 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals even better! And I'll be discussing this great event in my next posting :)
Sources:
BuaNews
Daily Media, Marketing & Advertising News from Africa
Sources:
BuaNews
Daily Media, Marketing & Advertising News from Africa
Media and sponsor attractiveness of Ethiopian athletes
Ethiopia has some of the world’s best middle-distance and long-distance runners. You may have heard of Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter, Haile Gebrselassie, Derartu Tulu, Kenenisa Bekele, Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba.
Tirunesh Dibaba for example is the double Olympic 5000m and 10000m champion; four-time world champion over the 5000m and 10000m; and a world record holder over the indoor and outdoor 5000m. In 2003, she was the youngest ever individual gold medallist at a world championship and also a three-time world cross country champion (source).
Wow! You would think that sponsors are competing hard to be able to benefit from this fast AND beautiful lady. BUT according to her own official web site (-> Sponsors) she has ONLY two sponsors!!!(Mizuno and Global athletics and Marketing Inc.)
I found an interesting analysis of this issue by Elshadai Negash published by Ethiopian weekly business newspaper Fortune in September 2008. Negash reveals that Tribunesh didn’t receive a much of media’s attention in Beijing Olympics after winning the 5,000m and 10,000m double.
Kenyan athletics journalist, Omulo Okoth tells in Negash’s article that it is an African athletes problem that they do not project themselves well for the media. A lack of real personalities creates frustration, followed by hardly any interest among journalists. And when the international media is no longer interested, the sponsors and big money meeting organizers also refrain from associating themselves with the athletes or the sport to promote their products and services.
According to Negash the public relations crisis is a problem that the IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations is trying to address. The world governing body conducts media training for its world class athletes, including Ethiopians, and encourages them to learn English in order to communicate better with the international media.
Maria Kuula made an interesting post about Timothy Bell. Maybe Ethiopian athletes would need someone like him? Even if I understand that media and sponsors want to have interesting personalities with excellent communication skills, it feels somehow harsh and unfair that the talented, but demure ones are tossed aside. What are the ethics of media and sponsors in choosing the "best" athletes?
Picture taken from here
13 November 2009
What happened to Coca-Cola in Egypt
Here's another beverage-related case from Africa: the crisis that Coca-Cola went through in Egypt, in a nutshell.Coca-Cola has been available in Egypt since 1945 but was then nationalised and produced by government-owned bottling plants until 1994, when the Coca-Cola Bottling Companies of Egypt was formed as a part of the privatisation policy. However, despite its long stay in the country, Coca-Cola has always had a smaller market share than Pepsi in Egypt. Coca-Cola products were identified as symbols of American imperialism, and there was also a general perception in the Arab world that Coca-Cola was for Jews and Pepsi for Arabs.
Since its privatisation, the Coca-Cola Egypt’s PR activities have been focusing on community service and what most would consider a two-way symmetrical philosophy of emphasising feedback through research of relevant publics and recognition that the company must make certain adjustments in its Egyptian operations. Among specific efforts are an employee literacy programme that has produced a 100% literacy rate among its 8,000 workers, and sponsorships and participation with nonprofit projects in the areas of education, health, youth sports, and the environment.
In 2000, Coca-Cola had to face perhaps the most serious accusation any company can endure in an Islamic nation, as a rumour spread through Egypt that Coca-Cola was anti-Islam. An accusation was made that if the Coca-Cola script logo was viewed upside down and in a mirror, it read as “No Mohammed. No Mecca.” This caused outrage and an instant drop in sales of Coca-Cola products of nearly 20%. Literature decrying the company and calls for its ouster from the country circulated in mosques, schools, and on the streets throughout Egypt. In certain jurisdictions, all Coca-Cola signage and advertising was ordered to be removed.
Coca-Cola Egypt’s response to the rumour was immediate, culturally sensitive, and reasoned. They requested to meet with the highest religious figure in the country, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Sheik Nasser Farid Wassel, and also arranged for an official panel of Islamic scholars to consider the matter. The outcome of this was that both the Grand Mufti and the group of scholars ruled there was no substance to the rumour (whose original source was never determined). The Grand Mufti announced this opinion publicly and went on to scold those who were disseminating the rumour for behaviour unbefitting their religion and for risking the jobs and welfare of thousands of Egyptian Muslims employed by Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola took the step of providing its sales force and delivery truck drivers with copies of Grand Mufti’s statement to display and distribute among businesses and customers. The company also followed up with an advertising campaign that included verses from the Holy Koran, running alongside the recently controversial Coca-Cola logo. Just a few weeks after all this, Coca-Cola regained its prerumour sales level and was once again challenging Pepsi for leadership in the Egyptian soft drink market. By realising the severity of the situation and by working with the religious leaders in a respectful and cooperative manner, Coca-Cola managed to avert serious damage and proclaim their innocence and contribution to Egypt’s economy.
--
Keenan, K. L. Public Relations in Egypt: Practices, Obstacles, and Potentials. In Sriramesh, K. & Verčič, D. (2009) The Global Public Relations Handbook. pp. 179-195.
The thirsty camel from here.
12 November 2009
Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa
It was the Global Public Relations Handbook that gave me an idea to have a closer look at the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA). You can find their website here.
PRISA was established in 1957 and it represents public relations and communication management professionals from the southern African region (registered members in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa). PRISA is a founding member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, and it also initiated the formation of the Council for Public Relations and Communication Management which is the coordinating body representing various groupings of professionals in South Africa.
PRISA offers a career path for PR practitioners, encourages skills development, helps plan lifelong learning and has developed a set of standards for the consulting industry with different measurements for small, medium and large businesses, and accredits consultancies based on criteria including transformation, business plans, client campaigns, etc. I couldn't find the standards from the website of PRISA, but you can have a look at PRISA Code of Conduct presented in the Global Public Relations Handbook that describes the code in detail. It looks really impressive! The other fact that caught my eye - the Code of Conduct was accepted by its members in 1976 and the same year the organization welcomed its first Black members.
Looking at the PRISA milestones (by M. Moscardi, 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa: Director of PRISA, reprinted with permission in Global Public Relations Handbook), the overview of organization mission, vision and activities, one could say that PR in South Africa is well-developed and has long history. But is it really the same with all PR activities in South Africa?
PRISA was established in 1957 and it represents public relations and communication management professionals from the southern African region (registered members in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and South Africa). PRISA is a founding member of the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, and it also initiated the formation of the Council for Public Relations and Communication Management which is the coordinating body representing various groupings of professionals in South Africa.
PRISA offers a career path for PR practitioners, encourages skills development, helps plan lifelong learning and has developed a set of standards for the consulting industry with different measurements for small, medium and large businesses, and accredits consultancies based on criteria including transformation, business plans, client campaigns, etc. I couldn't find the standards from the website of PRISA, but you can have a look at PRISA Code of Conduct presented in the Global Public Relations Handbook that describes the code in detail. It looks really impressive! The other fact that caught my eye - the Code of Conduct was accepted by its members in 1976 and the same year the organization welcomed its first Black members.
Looking at the PRISA milestones (by M. Moscardi, 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa: Director of PRISA, reprinted with permission in Global Public Relations Handbook), the overview of organization mission, vision and activities, one could say that PR in South Africa is well-developed and has long history. But is it really the same with all PR activities in South Africa?
11 November 2009
PR conflict - Ethiopian government vs. Starbucks
Coffee comes originally from Ethiopia, from a province called Kaffa. Coffee is Ethiopia’s most important export product by 60 % (CIA the world factbook and Fortune).
The following PR conflict is not resent, but it is a very interesting case. A
ll began already in March 2005, when Ethiopia filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of its three most famous coffee-producing regions: Yirgacheffe, Harrar and Sidamo. By this the Ethiopian government tried to obtain to its poor farmers larger shares of the sales of those who sell Ethiopian coffee. However Starbucks, the world's largest coffee shop chain, had already an application concerning trademark Sidamo.
The PR war was at its worst in 2006. This was a hit against Starbucks’ ethical image and their social responsibility policies. Trying to defend their profits against one of the worlds poorest countries. Starbucks clarified its good relationships with Ethiopian coffee farmers at its web page.
According to Spiegel “In June 2006, the giant coffee distributor withdrew its application and took a different approach to get its way. According to Oxfam, Starbucks leaned on the National Coffee Association (NCA) to help block Ethiopia's bid. And it worked.”
At the end silent stakeholders proved their power when Oxfam, a British-based not-for-profit organization, collected more than 96,000 signatures demanding Starbucks to complete a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement with Ethiopia for the three of Ethiopia's specialty coffees.
This case proofs that you cannot build trust based on economical decisions only – you need to consider the ethics of your public relations.
Photos:
1. Ethiopian farmers
2. Ehtiopian coffee
Other sources:
ABS News
Alternet
BBC news
CorpWatch
FPIF
Guardian
The following PR conflict is not resent, but it is a very interesting case. A
ll began already in March 2005, when Ethiopia filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of its three most famous coffee-producing regions: Yirgacheffe, Harrar and Sidamo. By this the Ethiopian government tried to obtain to its poor farmers larger shares of the sales of those who sell Ethiopian coffee. However Starbucks, the world's largest coffee shop chain, had already an application concerning trademark Sidamo.
The PR war was at its worst in 2006. This was a hit against Starbucks’ ethical image and their social responsibility policies. Trying to defend their profits against one of the worlds poorest countries. Starbucks clarified its good relationships with Ethiopian coffee farmers at its web page.
According to Spiegel “In June 2006, the giant coffee distributor withdrew its application and took a different approach to get its way. According to Oxfam, Starbucks leaned on the National Coffee Association (NCA) to help block Ethiopia's bid. And it worked.”
At the end silent stakeholders proved their power when Oxfam, a British-based not-for-profit organization, collected more than 96,000 signatures demanding Starbucks to complete a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement with Ethiopia for the three of Ethiopia's specialty coffees.
This case proofs that you cannot build trust based on economical decisions only – you need to consider the ethics of your public relations.
Photos:
1. Ethiopian farmers
2. Ehtiopian coffee
Other sources:
ABS News
Alternet
BBC news
CorpWatch
FPIF
Guardian
10 November 2009
PR media in the developing Ethiopia
Even if it seems that PR in Ethiopia is very little researched I want to stubbornly continue with this case country for two reasons
1) this is a challenging and an interesting learning experience for me
2) I hope to be able to give you my readers a bit different case.
Today still a bit of a background information - a few general points about PR media in developing countries and some of my thoughts about the challenges PR in developing countries may mean. I have a very good reason to believe that these challenges concern also the PR in Ethiopia.
According to Baines, Egan and Jefkins there are three ways of looking at public relations media in developing countries:
1) the dearth of Western-style mass media
2) the limitations of the existing mass media
3) the problems, special needs and special techniques of communicating with illiterate people and those, often remotely located, of different ethnic groups, languages, dialects, religions and lifestyles.
In addition to television and print media Baines, Egan and Jefkins list other medias of PR. They include:
1) Radio
2) Other mass media: pictures, diagrams, leaflets, posters, cartoon drawings
3) Folk, traditional and other localized media: i.e. market gossip
4) Open-air events
5) Video, DVD, CD-rom, Internet
6) Conferences (sponsors)
7) Seminars
8) Exhibitions
Today we learned at Kaja Tampre’s lecture (Old lecture slides:Grunig-and-his-theoretical-ideas) about the importance of creating trust in PR practices. I think that PR practices in Ethiopia may be challenging for at least three reasons concerning creating trust:
1) organization’s stakeholders are very divers (communicating skills, languages, location etc.) and thus it is hard to send univocally understood messages
2) there are often many intermediaries delivering the message, thus the message may change along the way and the intermediates can influence on the message
3) due to propaganda and the government’s control people may already lack trust on the received messages.
A friend of mine who works in Ethiopia told that relationships are the key to everything. I guess this is also partly about trust – it is easier to trust the messages you hear from people you know. So one might say that PR over there is not so much public relations as it is private relations.
-Anna-
Photo: PR at a market place in Konzo village
1) this is a challenging and an interesting learning experience for me
2) I hope to be able to give you my readers a bit different case.
Today still a bit of a background information - a few general points about PR media in developing countries and some of my thoughts about the challenges PR in developing countries may mean. I have a very good reason to believe that these challenges concern also the PR in Ethiopia.
According to Baines, Egan and Jefkins there are three ways of looking at public relations media in developing countries:
1) the dearth of Western-style mass media
2) the limitations of the existing mass media
3) the problems, special needs and special techniques of communicating with illiterate people and those, often remotely located, of different ethnic groups, languages, dialects, religions and lifestyles.
In addition to television and print media Baines, Egan and Jefkins list other medias of PR. They include:
1) Radio
2) Other mass media: pictures, diagrams, leaflets, posters, cartoon drawings
3) Folk, traditional and other localized media: i.e. market gossip
4) Open-air events
5) Video, DVD, CD-rom, Internet
6) Conferences (sponsors)
7) Seminars
8) Exhibitions
Today we learned at Kaja Tampre’s lecture (Old lecture slides:Grunig-and-his-theoretical-ideas) about the importance of creating trust in PR practices. I think that PR practices in Ethiopia may be challenging for at least three reasons concerning creating trust:
1) organization’s stakeholders are very divers (communicating skills, languages, location etc.) and thus it is hard to send univocally understood messages
2) there are often many intermediaries delivering the message, thus the message may change along the way and the intermediates can influence on the message
3) due to propaganda and the government’s control people may already lack trust on the received messages.
A friend of mine who works in Ethiopia told that relationships are the key to everything. I guess this is also partly about trust – it is easier to trust the messages you hear from people you know. So one might say that PR over there is not so much public relations as it is private relations.
-Anna-
Photo: PR at a market place in Konzo village
09 November 2009
Kenya comes to Jyväskylä
Just received the following invitation to my e-mail from the Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy:
GUEST LECTURE: DR GODWIN MURUNGA: "SPONTANEOUS OR PREMEDITATED: THE ROOTS OF POST ELECTION PROTESTS IN KENYA"
Thursday, 12 November 2009 from 14-16, MaB102
Summary of Presentation:
On 27th December 2007, Kenyans went to the polls to elect civic leaders, members of parliament and the president in what turned out to be a very smooth and peaceful process. But on the 30th December 2007, the ‘winner’ of the presidential race was announced in a controversial manner following a vote tallying process that was anything but transparent and fair. The country exploded into protests and violence as had never been witnessed before since independence. In explaining the character and manifestations of the protests and violence, two general positions dominate. There are those who see the violence as a spontaneous response to a flawed tallying process while others consider it premeditated and organized by the political class. This lecture will focus instead on the motives and motivations of actors and perpetrators to illustrate that there is no fine line distinguishing one form of protest and violence from the other.
Godwin R. Murunga teaches in the Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, Kenya. He is is a member of the Executive Committee of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). and has written and published extensively on Democratization in Kenya, Gender Politics and Conflict in East Africa. Most recently, Dr Murunga has edited two books entitled "Kenya: Struggles for Democrac", (Dakar and London: CODESRIA in Association with Zed Books, 2007) and a collection of Issa Shivji’s essays entitled "Where is Uhuru? Reflections on the Struggle for Democracy in Africa" (Oxford: Fahamu Books, 2009). Dr. Murunga is currently a visiting scholar at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden.
All those who are interested are invited to attend. Welcome to MaB102 on Thursday, 12.11 from 14-16!
Media in Egypt
The beginnings of modern mass media in Egypt date back to 1798, when the first mass circulation newspaper in Alexandria was established by Napoleon Bonaparte. Today, the Egyptian press consists of national daily and weekly newspapers and regional publications centered in the larger cities. Most media are in Arabic (the official language of Egypt), but there are also a daily and weekly newspapers in English, and a daily newspaper in French. Overall, of course, one has to understand that the newspaper readership is naturally low, explained by the literacy rate.
The areas of media outreach and media access are closely tied to media control in Egypt. Since the times of Nasser, the Egyptian media have been owned/controlled by the state. Privatisation of Egypt’s economy hasn’t really included the mass media industry, though some suggest that the process will just be slower as far as the media are concerned. The government today are less able to control what Egyptians view, now that the Internet and satellite television have been introduced.
The PR profession is continuously growing in Egypt. Some obstructions remain that will constrain the growth, and it is explained that it’s not likely that Egyptian PR will ever mirror the Western model completely. However, as the economy continues to move in towards privatisation and as the Egyptian government, culture, and the media become more welcoming of the conditions that accompany the privatisations, PR will find an environment where it’s increasingly welcome and necessary.
--
Kevin L. Keenan: Public Relations in Egypt: Practices, Obstacles, and Potentials. In The Global Public Relations Handbook.
06 November 2009
First signs of PR in South Africa
The author of Chapter 14 titled as Public Relations in South Africa: From Rhetoric to Reality from The Global Public Relations Handbook, Ronel Rensburg has said that the field of PR in South Africa can be characterized by search for identity, legitimacy and professional recognition, and its role is shaped by the dynamics of an ever-changing and developing society.
It was interesting to read that public relations in Africa also go back back decades, if not centuries. Parallel between the task of PR practitioner and that of a spokesman at the chief's seat of power in traditional South African villages has been drawn. It is claimed that no African chief or elder statesman spoke directly to a visitor. All communication was channeled through a spokesman who assumed eminent position in the society and was highly respected by the people. And this is still the case in some remote and traditional rural areas of South Africa!
The author also brings an example of African marital affairs, such as arranged marriages and lobola (bride price), to illustrate the concept of early PR activities in Africa. From the beginning to the sealing of marriage contact, the go-between or the middle man plays a crucial role in the success of the union.
Rensburg claims that public relations are also expressed in the use of traditional music, dancing, and beating drums to communicate to the inhabitants of the traditional African village. All in all, the concept of PR is neither alien nor a practice that arrived with colonialism, commercialization, or Western media imperialism - it has been around on the African continent in a different format for centuries.
Tool of Public Relations
It was interesting to read that public relations in Africa also go back back decades, if not centuries. Parallel between the task of PR practitioner and that of a spokesman at the chief's seat of power in traditional South African villages has been drawn. It is claimed that no African chief or elder statesman spoke directly to a visitor. All communication was channeled through a spokesman who assumed eminent position in the society and was highly respected by the people. And this is still the case in some remote and traditional rural areas of South Africa!
The author also brings an example of African marital affairs, such as arranged marriages and lobola (bride price), to illustrate the concept of early PR activities in Africa. From the beginning to the sealing of marriage contact, the go-between or the middle man plays a crucial role in the success of the union.
Tool of Public Relations
Photo taken from here
Facts & Figures: Republic of South Africa
From the point of view of means of technical communication:
- 4.425 million telephone main lines in use (2008)
- 45 million mobile phones (2008)
- 1.73 million internet hosts (2009)
- 4.187 million internet users (2008)
- Radio stations (in 1998): 14 AM, 347 FM (plus 243 repeaters), 1 shortwav
- TV stations (in 1997): 556 (plus 144 network repeaters)
Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency - The World Factbook
Wikipedia - South Africa
South Africa's official tourism website
05 November 2009
Search of PR in Ethiopia
Due to my short visit in Ethiopia in 2007 I had the interest to find out how the PR is conducted in that beautiful country. I started my research with enthusiasm and found already many interesting paradigms…
Ethiopia is considered one of the oldest human settlement areas as well as one of the oldest countries in the world dating back to amazing 1000 BC. Ethiopians are also Africa's second-most populous nation by estimated population of over 79,000,000. So there has been interpersonal communication for long time and there are a lot of message senders and receivers. However PR seems to be still a very hidden phenomenon.
Some other facts of the country may also help us to understand the background of PR in Ethiopia. In addition to mostly spoken official Amharic the country has eighty-three other indigenous languages, which is a challenge for PR and countrywide communication (as earlier Tiiu discussed at Overview of PR in Africa)
I got the impression that Ethiopians are very proud of their history and highly value their beautiful mountain country. Historically, people in Ethiopia practiced some of the oldest democratic systems in the world, but according to The Economist’s Democracy Index, Ethiopia is now-a-days closer to Authoritarian Regimes than real democracy. For example radio and television are under the control of the Ethiopian government. As we YVIA313 students know after our first lecture, democracy is a necessity for real PR to be able to take place.
One more challenge for the nationwide PR practises are several main religions, which include Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Paganism. There is a freedom of religion, but also some tension exists between the different religions.
Neverthele
ss there must also exist some high level of international PR since Ethiopia is known as the Africa's "Diplomatic Capital". It is for example one of the United Nations original members. The headquarters of both the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa are in Addis Ababa.
The PR field now and in the future is certainly changing as the country has one of the fastest growing economies in the world. In 2008 the GDP per capita was $898 which meant 11,11 % increase. (Source). Despite these economic improvements, urban and rural poverty remains an issue. Due to poverty and low literacy rates (42.7% ) print media serves only a small portion of the population. The government restricts the freedom of the press and assembly. ENA (The Ethiopia News Agency) seems to be the propaganda tool of the Government. You can have a look at their new web pages here. If you still are interested in reading more you can find Ethiopian news links from Abbaymedia and at DOMZ. 
At first I doubted whether PR even exists in Ethiopia, but I’m determined to find it. :) So you’ll be sure to hear more interesting findings about my search of the PR in Ethiopia… Keep your fingers crossed and feel free to help me with any interesting questions or ideas.
With exiting PR explorer greetings,
Anna
Photos:1. Flag of Ethiopia
2. Bakery
3. Shop
4. Coming from work
General sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_in_Ethiopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Rights_in_Ethiopia
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html
04 November 2009
What kind of PR is needed in Africa?
Egyptian PR Industry
In Egypt, PR is often considered synonymous with hospitality or customer relations. The service industry is probably the one most associated with PR jobs, and for instance hotels employ PR directors who are responsible for guest services. It can be said that there is a lack of understanding for the parameters of the PR profession in Egypt, and confusion exists among organisations with regard to the distinctions between PR, advertising, and marketing. Sales are often considered the primary goal of PR, with little interest in or patience for programmes or tactics that do not directly tackle sales. By one estimation, out of all who consider themselves part of the PR business in Egypt only 10% truly are skilled professionals.
The dominant coalitions in most Egyptian organisations have traditionally not included PR specialists, which is why they don’t have a very high regard for the contributions that PR could make to organisational effectiveness. A further challenge is the lack of formal training in modern PR theory and practices.
There are numerous obstacles and problems to be dealt with before PR is fully accepted as an effective and integral organisational function in Egypt, but there seems to be cause for optimism. The recent years have seen some changes as some international PR firms have entered into affiliation agreements with local agencies in Cairo. Also more sophisticated PR strategies and techniques have already been tried out, and the country’s economic and social systems are continuously evolving for the better.
--
Kevin L. Keenan: Public Relations in Egypt: Practices, Obstacles, and Potentials, published in The Global Public Relations Handbook.
The dominant coalitions in most Egyptian organisations have traditionally not included PR specialists, which is why they don’t have a very high regard for the contributions that PR could make to organisational effectiveness. A further challenge is the lack of formal training in modern PR theory and practices.
There are numerous obstacles and problems to be dealt with before PR is fully accepted as an effective and integral organisational function in Egypt, but there seems to be cause for optimism. The recent years have seen some changes as some international PR firms have entered into affiliation agreements with local agencies in Cairo. Also more sophisticated PR strategies and techniques have already been tried out, and the country’s economic and social systems are continuously evolving for the better.
--
Kevin L. Keenan: Public Relations in Egypt: Practices, Obstacles, and Potentials, published in The Global Public Relations Handbook.
Facts and Figures: Egypt
To better understand communication in Egypt, I thought I'd post some elucidating facts. These are taken from The CIA World Factbook.Population: 83,082,869 (July 2009 est.)
Literacy (age 15 and over who can read and write): in total population 71.4%, male 83%, female 59.4% (2005 est.)
Languages: Arabic (official), English and French widely understood by educated classes
Telephones: main lines in use 12.011 million (2008), mobile cellular phones 41.272 million (2008)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 42 (plus 15 repeaters), FM 11, shortwave 3 (1999)
Television broadcast stations: 98 (Sept. 1995)
Internet hosts: 177,443 (2009)
Internet users: 11,414 million (2008)
Press Releases related to Africa
African Press Organization offers a Database of Press Releases related to Africa. You can also search news according to countries.
03 November 2009
Specializing
As a result of the preliminary research and discussions within our group, we decided to focus our next postings on different countries. Some of the reasons why it would be difficult to speak about Africa as one entity are pointed out here.
From now on, Anna is our expert on PR in Ethiopia, Susanna focuses on Egypt and Tiiu tackles PR in South Africa. Hemmo has not made up his mind yet, but we'll let you know if he has.
From now on, Anna is our expert on PR in Ethiopia, Susanna focuses on Egypt and Tiiu tackles PR in South Africa. Hemmo has not made up his mind yet, but we'll let you know if he has.
02 November 2009
Overview of PR in Africa
The following overview is based on the material from the book mentioned in our previous posting (The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice). I focused on chapter 14, titled as "The Nature and Status of Public Relations Practice in Africa" and written by Chris Skinner and Gary Mersham.
Skinner and Mersham begin their overview stating that research on the practice of PR in Africa is for the most part sparse and fragmented, and mostly carried out on specific aspects in specific countries. They claim that the best report available was compiled in 2006 by UK-based consultancy Gyroscope called "The Public Relations Landscape in Africa" and it also stresses that Africa consists of 53 separate countries that differ from each other significantly.
The authors have listed four challenges that need to be addressed before one can speak about integrated and united Africa:
1. Lack of physical infrastructure
2. Profound and mutual ignorance of different countries and cultures
3. Language barriers (e.g., South Africa has 11 official languages, Nigeria 390 dialects, etc.)
4. Differential economics and discrepancies in the GDP's of Africa's states.
These social, political, geographical and economic diversities of Africa are formidable challenges to many communication professionals for whom the commercial sector in Africa remains out of bounds, although Africa is a potentially vast and untapped market for commercial organizations.
There are media channels that cover most or all of Africa (BBC, Voice of America, Channel Africa, Africa Online). Unfortunately these channels have limited value for PR managers, as in trying to be broadly "African", they lose much of the localism, and they are limited to particular audience (English-speaking, relatively literate).
From the point of view of communications infrastructure, Skinner and Mersham have pointed out that although the number of cell subscribers and internet access points is increasing, there are huge variations throughout Africa. The policies and regulations also need more attention due to the recent changes in this field.
For conducting local PR in African countries, locally trained public relations practitioners are needed because of the complexities of languages, cultures and media structures. Levels of education vary widely. The authors have found variations in professional or vocational education in PR and communications management. In many cases some public relations focused components are offered as a part of mass communication and journalism programmes. Many countries do not have degree courses in communication management but there is a growing trend towards their introduction.
As with many other things mentioned above, Skinner and Mesham say also that standards of professional practice and ethics in the African countries range from excellent to very poor. Ghana, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia are considered to be among the best, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia somewhere in the middle, and Angola, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe at the end of the list.
A professional association called the African Public Relations Association is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit-making organization that fosters unity and interaction among PR practitioners in Africa. Information about the organization is available here. Although the organization has been more successful in its activities in recent years, the authors claim that majority of public relations professional associations established in Africa have low key operations and small membership.
In most African countries there are PR and corporate communications agencies but the sector itself is underdeveloped. The above mentioned Gyroscope report describes four types of agencies:
1. Local offices or affiliates of the global PR groups
2. Africa specialists with claimed or actual expertise across several countries
3. Local agencies that are genuine PR specialists
4. Local agencies that claim PR as part of a service they offer.
For those who are interested, I would like to recommend reading pages 280-285 that give an overview of the Africa Communication Index developed by Gyroscope consultancy. It is created to help communication managers to match their needs and objectives in Africa to what is actually possible.
The future for PR in Africa... Skinner and Mersham believe that PR will continue to develop throughout Africa. They suggest that one of the most powerful influences might be broadly encompassed as the African world-view --- the concept that encompasses the value community and the recognition of the value of all individuals. The philosophy of "Ubuntu" (the idea of being one's brother's keeper) runs deeply throughout African thought and action.
Skinner and Mersham begin their overview stating that research on the practice of PR in Africa is for the most part sparse and fragmented, and mostly carried out on specific aspects in specific countries. They claim that the best report available was compiled in 2006 by UK-based consultancy Gyroscope called "The Public Relations Landscape in Africa" and it also stresses that Africa consists of 53 separate countries that differ from each other significantly.
The authors have listed four challenges that need to be addressed before one can speak about integrated and united Africa:
1. Lack of physical infrastructure
2. Profound and mutual ignorance of different countries and cultures
3. Language barriers (e.g., South Africa has 11 official languages, Nigeria 390 dialects, etc.)
4. Differential economics and discrepancies in the GDP's of Africa's states.
These social, political, geographical and economic diversities of Africa are formidable challenges to many communication professionals for whom the commercial sector in Africa remains out of bounds, although Africa is a potentially vast and untapped market for commercial organizations.
There are media channels that cover most or all of Africa (BBC, Voice of America, Channel Africa, Africa Online). Unfortunately these channels have limited value for PR managers, as in trying to be broadly "African", they lose much of the localism, and they are limited to particular audience (English-speaking, relatively literate).
From the point of view of communications infrastructure, Skinner and Mersham have pointed out that although the number of cell subscribers and internet access points is increasing, there are huge variations throughout Africa. The policies and regulations also need more attention due to the recent changes in this field.
For conducting local PR in African countries, locally trained public relations practitioners are needed because of the complexities of languages, cultures and media structures. Levels of education vary widely. The authors have found variations in professional or vocational education in PR and communications management. In many cases some public relations focused components are offered as a part of mass communication and journalism programmes. Many countries do not have degree courses in communication management but there is a growing trend towards their introduction.
As with many other things mentioned above, Skinner and Mesham say also that standards of professional practice and ethics in the African countries range from excellent to very poor. Ghana, Botswana, South Africa and Namibia are considered to be among the best, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia somewhere in the middle, and Angola, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe at the end of the list.
A professional association called the African Public Relations Association is a non-governmental, non-political and non-profit-making organization that fosters unity and interaction among PR practitioners in Africa. Information about the organization is available here. Although the organization has been more successful in its activities in recent years, the authors claim that majority of public relations professional associations established in Africa have low key operations and small membership.
In most African countries there are PR and corporate communications agencies but the sector itself is underdeveloped. The above mentioned Gyroscope report describes four types of agencies:
1. Local offices or affiliates of the global PR groups
2. Africa specialists with claimed or actual expertise across several countries
3. Local agencies that are genuine PR specialists
4. Local agencies that claim PR as part of a service they offer.
For those who are interested, I would like to recommend reading pages 280-285 that give an overview of the Africa Communication Index developed by Gyroscope consultancy. It is created to help communication managers to match their needs and objectives in Africa to what is actually possible.
The future for PR in Africa... Skinner and Mersham believe that PR will continue to develop throughout Africa. They suggest that one of the most powerful influences might be broadly encompassed as the African world-view --- the concept that encompasses the value community and the recognition of the value of all individuals. The philosophy of "Ubuntu" (the idea of being one's brother's keeper) runs deeply throughout African thought and action.
30 October 2009
Global Public Relations Handbook
It's really nice to live in e-world. I just found a very recent book (2009) on global PR. It's called "The Global Public Relations Handbook: Theory, Research, and Practice", edited by Sriramesh and Vercis, and published by Routledge. The whole book is available online via university library webpage. It gives a general overview and has separate parts on PR in Asia and Australasia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Enjoy reading!
News on PR in Africa
I found a webpage that offers constantly updated news and information about Public Relations in Africa. You can find it from here. The page is administered by EIN News (established in 1995). It supplies business professionals and individuals with relevant and interesting news products and has grown to become the largest digital news provider in Europe. It also gives news by topics and by countries from all over the world. I hope that it can be a useful source for all participants of our course.
Anna
I'm not very familiar with Africa, but I have visited Ethiopia for a couple of weeks - and loved it. I'm looking forward to learning new things about PR in Africa - and blogging.
27 October 2009
Tiiu
My name is Tiiu and I am a member of team No 8 at our course. I come from Estonia and have been studying at the University of Jyväskylä since September. Back at home I have been studying communication management and here I'm focusing on organizational communication. Have enjoyed every moment of my stay in Finland, except for a parking ticket...
Me and Africa - no connection whatsoever... I can find it from a map, have heard bits and pieces from here and there, but don't know much about it unfortunately. Therefore, keeping this blog is a challenge and I'm sure I will learn a lot while doing it. I hope that our readers will enjoy reading the blog and share their emotions and give us constructive feedback.
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