My Blog

Well it has been a few weeks since the 2009 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year awards came to an official "close" but we've continuously had registered users and guests online everyday checking out what went down at the awards, reading about the winners and just getting to know more about the awards. It's been great to see the momentum on this site.

 Please blog or send us all of your stories -- i really want to know what you've been doing and we want more of your news on the site.

By interacting more, we are hoping to build up a community of journalists, and followers, who share a love of this beautifully diverse and ever-changing continent...

 till next time, keep blogging, keep sharing...

It's finally arrived, the gala awards ceremony to honour the achievemrnts of an outstanding group of journalists from across the African continent. Over the last few days I have been priviledged to interact with the finalists and can truly say that they embody all that is good about this industry. I have been moved by the words they have written and images they have captured -- they have told the African story and created a conversation about this beautiful, violent, ethnically diverse continent. Tonight, on the same day as Madiba's birthday,  I can honestly say that i am proud to be an African and be a part of the media industry here. The digital revolution may have hit us a little later than the rest of the world, but it is here now and it is letting us tell the stories in a way that we were never able to before.

We are citizen journalists and we now create the conversations...

CNN has been devoting much of its time to the 40^th anniversary celebrations of man's landing on the Moon. Iconic images and sound-bites from the 60s - Kennedy's famous speech in which he vowed that America would put a man on the moon. "Not because it is easy, but because it is difficult," he said. And Buzz Aldrin's "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," as he bobbed around weightlessly on the lunar surface; the words carried millions of miles across outer space into eagerly waiting TV and radio sets all over Planet Earth.

Words that will outlive their creators, and outlast the circumstances that inspired them. Long after the world has forgotten the thrill of landing on the moon (perhaps after Mankind has succeeded in erecting a settlement on the Sun - which will need to be done at night for obvious reasons), these words will stand as monuments to ambition, to purpose, to passion, to genius, to the power of the human mind and spirit to achieve the seeming impossible.

Today is also Madiba's birthday. The Father of the Rainbow Nation is ninety-one today. Happy Birthday Sir!

And then, last but not the least, today is D-Day as well. The winners of the 2009 CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards will be announced at a ceremony to be held at the International Convention Center here in Durban. We had rehearsals yesterday, each of us got a chance to practice walking onto the stage, and clutching the trophy to our chests, and making a brief speech. Even in a near-empty hall, it was nerve-wracking. And it was yesterday it seemed to dawn on many, if not all of us, that not everyone will take a trophy home. But that is not to say that everyone will not be a WINNER. Coming this far, out of more than 800 journalists and over a thousand-five-hundred entries, is an immense privilege that should never be taken for granted.

It's been a heady few days: airport lounges (my least favorite place in the world - slight exaggeration), bus rides, dinners (never before have I found myself a 'hostage' of so much food), speeches, camera flashlights, an endless flow of business cards. And for the memory-challenged, there has been the difficult task of remembering names and faces, and then matching them.

Tonight, when  we are done with the glitz, we will dance. And we will wish one another well. And we will prepare to depart. Hopefully we shall all meet again, perhaps in different lands and different circumstances. Perhaps some of us will be back next year, for another shot. And perhaps we will stumble into one another in the cobwebbed corridors of the information superhighway, and ‘tweet' one another, and exchange Facebook pokes.

Whatever happens after today, this will forever count as one of the best moments of my life. African Journalism (or better still - Journalism on the African Continent - is alive and well). We have no choice, we must continue to tell our stories. As an inscription I saw at the Durban Arts Gallery yesterday proclaimed: "If not us, who? If not now, when? And if not together, how?"

Having said that, what better way to approach this evening, than with the words, whose origin I unfortunately do not know (perhaps it is "ANON", that most famous of poets and philosophers): "Let me win. But if I cannot win. Let me be brave in defeat."

This morning we had a lecture on the 2010 world cup, followed by a very interesting discussion on the use of digital media in journalism.

It's very interesting for me to see that although Egypt may not be considered one of the most technologically advanced areas in the region, in this area we are definitely on the bandwagon.

Because journalism freedoms in Egypt are subject to the whims of the government, who open and close the tap for free press frequently, many journalists have turned online--though they also the run the risk of crackdowns and arrests. We currently have several bloggers in jail.

Blogging, facebook, YouTube and Twitter have offered Egyptians far more freedom for expressing their ideas than traditional media, and offer non-governmental actors an outlet for political aspirations. We've had a monumental protest (infamously known as the "April 6th" protest) organized solely through facebook. We've had a police officer charged for torture solely through a video posted on a blog. We've been notifed that a blogger was stopped at the airport and detained through Twitter. It's amazing.

Blogs are often actually given more credence and authority than articles written in 'proper' newspapers, which have never had much credence to begin with. (In fact, when someone is feeding you false/ sensationalist  information, you say that he's spouting "kalam garayed"--Newspaper Speak). Digital media has become so natural in the lives of youth in Egypt, it seems strange when I meet someone who's not immersed in the online world.

After the session we headed to Moyos for lunch, a restaurant on the beach which aims to give you an 'African' feel. Though I'm not the biggest fan of such places since I feel they only reinforce certain beliefs tourists have of a country (I'm thinking of restaurants in Egypt that serve tourists dressed in pharonic garb and tons of eyeliner) it was enjoyable. I got a flower painted on my face, ate some divine dessert with custard though I still have no idea what it was, and saw some magnificent sand sculptures on the beach--rhinos and dragons and sandcastles.

Then we headed to the rehearsal for tomorrow's ceremony, and again I was struck by the magnitude of the event. Enormous enormous ballroom, lights, cameras, mikes, hundreds of guests, it's nerve-racking. I'm trying not to think about it. I know I've said this before, but I still can't believe I'm here. You know these reality TV shows where a girl goes "I'm just a small time girl from the farm" etc etc? I assume it's kind of the same feeling--I'm just one small journalist from Egypt.  

So we go into dinner last night and are greeted by a couple of hundred people. Did they all fly in just for this ceremony? I'm still trying to wrap my head around that-people flying in just to show their appreciation for African journalists. The sheer number of people attending this event, people who I'd probably spend hours on the phone with their PR people trying to wrangle a meeting with them, is amazing.

I applied to this competition on a whim, unbelieving that I'd be a finalist, considering the caliber of journalism out there. I'd never actually heard about it before, so even though it was hosted by CNN and MultiChoice, I didn't actually realize what a huge deal it was. Even when I heard I was a finalist, I still didn't really get it. I thought it would be a small event.

It's hard for me to realize that so many important people and so much money can be spent just to how appreciation for journalists. I come from a country where most journalists are considered corrupt, sleazy, unethical and government-owned. When I tell people back in Egypt that I'm a journalist they either look at me with a) suspicion b) contempt.

I've always believed that being a good journalist-especially in countries like mine-was something to be appreciated and respected. Unfortunately, that's not the case. So to come here and see that it is, is amazing. The fact that I'm a finalist is huge-it's seemingly infused with many meanings and opens doors. I was talking to a representative from CNN at dinner, and when I mentioned that I was going to be in London next week, he immediately went "you must come and visit us when you're there. Regardless of what happens on Saturday, you're a finalist."

 So I was asked about "THE veil" at least half a dozen times today by different people-finalists, judges, guests (and it's always THE veil *queue scary music*).

Throughout my life, I've been asked so many questions about being veiled from so many people of different nationalities and religions-from the naively ignorant ("Can your husband see your hair?" Umm no, the stork drops the babies at our doorstep) to the truly offensive ("You are oppressed and forced to wear such a middle-aged, backward symbol but just don't know it."). I've heard it all so many times nothing surprises or offends me anymore, and I'm totally open to every discussion about any topic under the sun.

My identity has always been: Muslim. Female. Egyptian. My faith is a big part of my life and it's so intrinsic and natural-I honestly don't feel that there's anything in my life that I want to accomplish but can't because of religion, culture, gender etc or that I'm being held back in any way-that I sometimes forget all the stereotypes and misconceptions that go along with being a Muslim Egyptian female.

Likewise, I've had "THE veil" conversation so many times, I sometimes forget that for some people they're hearing it for the first time from a 'real' Muslim woman. And that many others have so many questions but don't want to ask for fear of offence or a desire to be politically correct. So, quick crash course:

• I was not forced to wear the veil. I did it out of my own free will, after research and debate and thinking and eventually believing that it was a required part of my faith. No social conditioning and peer pressure.
• I am not bald, and I do wash, straighten, cut, color and style my hair.
• The piece of fabric on my hair does not signify the death of my femininity or my sexuality.
• Science has not yet managed to prove that covering my hair lowers my IQ.
• "Behind the veil" is a cliché that makes me want to bang my head against the wall. You want to know what's behind it? As a friend of mine put it: Hair. Now can we move on?

I am not denying that there are many women around the world who are forced or otherwise coerced into wearing the veil. But those women are probably being coerced into many other things--focusing on the veil is reductive and missing the point. I did a thesis on veiling and the construction of an Islamic identity, and researched the reasons behind veiling in Egypt, where over 80% of Egyptian women are veiled. I came up with 11 reasons, and none of them had anything to do with religion.

So yes, it's not always a choice. But often it is.

I have to admit, I now feel all the more humbled and amazed at the fact that I'm sitting here right now as a finalist for an award in which so much time, effort and money is invested into. And it was extremely reassuring to know that finalists are chosen irrespective of their background, gender, country, medium they work with, etc. For me, I came out knowing that stories are judged based on: the originality of the idea, the amount of research gone into it, and it's presentation. A journalist who asks himself the question 'What is missing?' is a good one.

We have a formal dinner in an hour. Guys have it so easy. One suit and they're all ready.

• Woke up at 4am to finish some work which took longer than I thought it would so I didn't have time to visit the beach. Ma'lesh (never mind), I'll do it tomorrow.
• Tried some scary and strange looking fruit at breakfast, which turned out to be passionfruit. Sweet.
• Sat by the pool discussing male menopause with some finalists. No idea how we got onto that topic.
• Got on the coach to begin sightseeing. We each got a freebie pack with a cool looking rainbow football pen I'll give my little brother and tell him I got it for him as a present.
• Our first stop of the day was the stadium being built for FIFA 2010, though unfortunately we didn't get to take a tour because the labor strikes only ended yesterday. Apparently the stadium cost something like $300 million to build. After sitting through a presentation on it, I'm not so embarrassed now that Egypt got 0 votes for their 2010 bid. We would have never been able to do something like that so soon. Kind of strange though that the new stadium is being built next to an old stadium-the old one looks shabby in comparison.
• Fact: Durban transforms methane gas into electricity.
• Fact:16,500 informal traders (what we call in Egypt street vendors) are allowed to trade on the pavement. Interesting approach which may lead to a different kind of capitalism. In Egypt, we round them up, arrest them, and confisticate their goods, though it's been estimated that these 'informal' traders may account for an unacknowledged 10% of GDP.
• We then made our way to the beautiful botanic gardens. Absolutely stunning with insanely humongous trees and very fat ducks. I noticed one of the promotion photos up had a veiled girl in them, which I though was very inclusionary. Then we sat through a lecture on Durban city planning. It was ok, though not exactly scintillating.
• Could not recognize most of the food in lunch since it's mostly fried/ samosa style so you can't tell what's inside but I had crackers with some kind of sweet cheese which was divine. Orange juice is really pulpy here.
• Then came the best part of the day so far-a trip to Warwick centre, which is apparently the back end of Durban. Rather than seeing the hotels and beachfront, we got to see some real Durban. A mishmash of traders on pavements and sidewalks selling the most random stuff: potatoes, socks, adaptors, the most dusty looking CD cases you can imagine and most memorably-meat from cow heads cooked right in front of you. Ugghhh.
• A lot of women have red powder on their faces. Obviously not for beautification, turns out it's a natural sunscreen. Love the fact many women are dressed in traditional garb.
• We visited an entire market that sells nothing but herbs, and I use herbs in the loosest manner possible. Bones, feathers, snake skins, and the like. Apparently herbal medicine is very popular here, and the market makes millions a year. Got a very voodoo and witch-doctor feeling. I have to wonder how these people make money though, considering they all sell almost the same products.
• We saw a church and mosque (though why there was washing hanging from the mosque I don't know) and learned about an inter-faith program.
• Then a short lecture about what a government company called iTrump is doing to manage and regenerate the area. Rather than round them up and ship them out, it's working with them.
• I am loving the shortbread biscuits in my hotel room. Alrighty, have to run, I'm late.

Yesterday i landed in Durban after leaving a freezing JHB -- only problem is that i had particularly bad flight karma as my plane almost fell out of the sky twice, the woman in the seat behind me kept moaning and semi-weeping everytime the plane moved slightly, which made my hysteria levels rise ever so slightly, and then as we landed the pilot made the plane bounce on the runway three times before we stopped.

Dinner at the UShaka Marine World Aquarium, downstairs in the shipwreck, was an unbelievably beautiful setting -- sharks swimming around to the right of the bar, giant sting rays to the left of the low-slung sofas, floor to ceiling water columns in the middle of the room with jelly fish floating around like a giant retro lava-lamp. Our team were hosted by the City of Durban with speeches by the Mayor of Durban and the Premier of KZN. The vibe here is one of comradarie, friendship and partnership, with many of the journos sharing experiences from their countries and discussing how social media platforms could enhance the freedom of media...

 more from here as and when