A Journo's Diary

Afghanistan: The London Conference – Friday 29th January, 2009

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has said the world is still in deep economic crisis, despite some signs of recovery in a few countries. He said that there are additional ninety million people living below the poverty line out of which forty million are commonwealth citizens. Speaking at the opening ceremony of this year’s Commonwealth Finance Ministers Meeting in Limassol, Cyprus, Mr. Sharma said that 2009 will see the first contraction of the global economy in the association’s 60 year history. “It is wrong, to speak of the crisis in the past tense. The world is still deep in recession, and the residual effects will be all the worse, and all the longer-lasting, for the smaller, weaker, poorer countries, which do not have the cushion or the economic resilience to weather its storms,” the Secretary-general said. He added: “No country in the Commonwealth will reach its growth potential this year. “Citing the example of Botswana – which has been and remains something of a model of macroeconomic stability and careful liberalisation, Mr. Sharma said that the country has seen a swing from a 7% surplus in 2008 to a 6% deficit in 2009. “I say this, simply to stress that the crisis has spared no one.” He said because of the gravity of the situation, this year’s meeting which is focusing on sharing experiences on how each of the Commonwealth countries are dealing and addressing with the effects of the global economic crisis is very crucial.

He highlighted the importance of the meeting for Finance Ministers in both their national capacities and as members of the Commonwealth. “Rarely, if ever, have the challenges facing Finance Ministers been more complex or grave,” he added.

The Secretary-General said that there are opportunities of drawing from the diversity of the Commonwealth to address the challenges facing the world today, including the economic crisis. “The key is to make this Commonwealth diversity and inclusiveness a strength. To share experience, to learn from each other’s wisdom, to understand each others’ concerns, to act. I do believe that no other organisation offers quite this chance.” He outlined key features of the shared Commonwealth approach to the issues confronting the meeting, including: commitment to collective engagement and to multilateralism; distinctiveness in pioneering new ideas, and partnership. The opening ceremony was also addressed by the Finance Minister of Cyprus Charilaos Stavrakis who said that his country has tried to address the impact of the downturn by supporting key sectors of their economy, such as tourism and construction—which were more prone to the crisis. Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Mustfa Haidi Mkulo who also spoke at the session said he hopes that by sharing experiences among each other, ministers will be able to distill good practice and explore ways of supporting one another.

With all due respect to them, senior and established journalists today get confused and start scratching their heads the time you mention the term “blogging” or “twitter” or for that matter any aspect of “online journalism” to them. I came across a couple of such people while I was blogging and tweeting live from the G20 summit on Thursday 2nd April at the Excel Centre. There were constant glances on my laptop screen and people asking me the whole concept of a twitter and a blog. Somehow they couldn’t understand how by sitting inside the press briefing hall, I could update my blog through my mobile. By the time most of them would come out of the press briefing hall to file a story, those who were tweeting were already narrating to the world, what was happening inside the four walls of press conference. This is where the present generation of journalists who are well versed with the latest innovations of new media are taking the lead.

Reporting by sending live updates from mobile phone is the easiest option today

In the present day world of microwave journalism, it takes just a moment for a piece of news to become stale. There is a sense of urgency to put things first and today, web is the fastest medium to so. Taking the example of the terror attacks on Mumbai in November, 2008, the web was flooded with blogs, twitter and videos posted by those who witnessed the attack. And not only them but many people who were hostages took videos of the situation inside and this was later broadcast on the national news channels. In many ways, it helped journalists to get more inside and real time information other than what they were just reporting.

The new methods of reporting, i.e., blogging and tweeting are a virtual way of bringing the world together. It adds an extra responsibility for the journalists to make sure that the information goes through the right channel at the right time. A little bit of a delay can make the news stale. And thus for those who are not very acquainted with this reality, It’s time to learn how to survive and thrive in the digital age.

Want to know what happened at the G20? Live reports from the protests on 1st April to the summit on 2nd.

FIND OUT MORE ON THE LONDON SUMMIT 2009 PAGE.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE REPORTING FROM G20!!!!