The Weekly Sneak: Medium Alert.

Ben Taylor's post on the recent banning of Mtanzania and Mwananchi newspapers gives an excellent analysis on what's happening to our media industry. Of course this week I had to address the issue in the EA because as civilians we're having a fight with the powers that be about the shape and limitations of our freedom of expression and information. This most recent banning? Might be the precursor to further actions as the government continues to react poorly to the effects of having liberalized the press. 

In writing the piece, however, I got distracted by the government blog. I commend the government for trying to keep up with these times, but the execution could do with a lot of work. I understand- this is a generational issue. The median age of the government's management level must be hovering around the upper fifties, perhaps not the most tech-savvy group there is. All that youth unemployment, all those poorly-designed, outdated websites... can't we do something about this?

"Since we’re pretending to hold each other to account about our general use of media, I really must protest the decrepitude of the government’s online efforts. To begin with, that blog is a crime against design and the very idea of blogging. And things only gets worse with every website. Seriously? In 2013? Sometimes I think it’s the government that needs to be put in the naughty corner for a time-out with such behavior. Quality, old boys, standards. Ban things if you must (it doesn’t really work) but at least hire a twenty-something to handle you online, sweet befuddled political dinosaurs."