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Online Journalism News

Kenya gets first online journalism course

Posted: 21/07/04 By: Jemima Kiss
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The Unites States International University in Nairobi, Kenya will be launching one of Africa's first online journalism courses this September.

Led by journalism lecturer Kodi Barth, the course will be offered to students that have already studied basic journalism. Students will be taught a range of skills, culminating in the production of an online magazine.

Mr Barth studied at Columbia University in the US under new media guru Sreenath Sreenivasan.

Although African publishers have the hardware and skilled staff, there is a shortage of trained web journalists, said Mr Barth.

"Media practitioners here are still too shy of this new form of journalism - and nothing significant is being done to encourage an eager audience," he told dotJournalism.

African web publishers will have to address the same issues as news organisations across the world, including making sites profitable.

Across the continent, the internet is still available to only a small elite of web users, most of whom use cybercafés for web access. Broadband services are only available in South Africa and are expensive.

"The real growth will come when we get into fast internet here, when the technology becomes cheaper, and when the literate population begins to really feel at home with computer technology," said Mr Barth.

Limited internet speeds will restrict the course to some extent, he added.

"We can't go full blast with new media features such as digitised audio and sound (like TV webcast or web radio) - again, because slow speeds here won't let us.

"But we'll do what we can under the circumstances."

The school of journalism at the University of Nairobi is also considering a dedicated online journalism course.

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See also:
Kodi Barth: http://www.kodibarth.com
All Africa.com - Online Journalism Is About to Hit Us: http://allafrica.com/stories/200407190438.html
Online Journalism Review - For Most Africans, Internet Access Is Little More Than a Pipe Dream: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/workplace/1079109268.php
Online Journalism Review - Meet Columbia's New Media Guru: http://www.ojr.org/ojr/education/1077755580.php
United States International University - Africa: http://www.usiu.ac.ke/programs/programs/undegraduate/jrn.htm

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