Let the people blog

But majority are excluded because of lack of internet acccess

I have stayed away from my blog for a very long time, maybe I'm suffering from blogger's block, the blogging equivalent of writer' blog. But I'm back, what more can I do than join millions of people around the world who use their blogs to share news, their thoughts, views and offer advice on a range of issues.

What is disconcerting in the South African blogosphere is that many black South Africans are not blogging, thereby making blogs something of an elitist and irrelevant medium of communication for the greater majority of South Africans.

Once I was covering a story for the now defunct Reporter.co.za in my township. Residents raided a house where stolen goods were found after a string of house breakings. They wanted to burn the house and beat the owner of the house. This happened last year just before Reporter.co.za closed down.

"For which publication are you writing the story?" one youngster asked me. I explained that I was a citizen reporter writing for a citizen journalism website. "I undersatnd, but it does not help much because many people in Buhle Park dont' have internet."

I agreed with him but nevertheless I contniued with my work. As I write this blog I still vividly remember his words, and it looks as if the best medium to reach most black South Africans is via the printed words. Despite declining newspaper circulation figures the print medium is the best mode of delivering the news to the masses and initiating dialogue. The reach of blogs is limited.

Our mass based internet revolution is still far off. I doubt if it will happen in our lifetime. According to the internetworldstats.com iternet usage on the continent is the lowest compared to other continents and here in South Africa about 9.4% of the population has access to the internet.

We have a challenge to ensure we make the internet accessible to the great majority of Africans. I hope the governement will take progressive steps to make the internet cheap, fast and a reality for the majority of the population.

In the meantime I should continue blogging, it is the best way to exercise my section 16 right to freedom of expression.