17.00-19.00

Session 1

Deliberating new media: creating alternative politics in the Middle East and Africa?

Activists and researchers debate the interaction between technology and communication for political change.

Speakers: Amy Saunderson-Meyer (Freedom Fone), Herman Wasserman (Rhodes University), Firoze Manji (Pambazuka News)

Chairs: Sharath Srinivasan and Anne Alexander

19.00-20.00

Drinks reception at CRASSH

Friday 15 October

09.00-09.30

09.30-11.00

Session 2

Mediating conflict and dissent

Herman Wasserman (Rhodes University)
Of glasses half full: exploratory notes towards the role of new media technologies in democratic politics in South Africa

Nduka Otiono (University of Alberta)

From Urban Sphere to Cyber Space: New Media, Citizen Journalism and the Role of ‘Sahara Reporters’ in Nigeria’s Political Struggle

Adi Kuntsman (University of Manchester) and Rebecca Stein (Duke University)

Another War Zone: Digital Media and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Chair:  Devon Curtis (University of Cambridge)

11.00-11.30

 Coffee Break

11.30-13.00

Session 3

Engaging new audiences, contesting old power

Amy Saunderson-Meyer (Freedom Fone)

Resisting the repression of media freedom in Zimbabwe

Harri Englund (University of Cambridge)

Rethinking audience engagement: lessons from old media

Dombo Sylvester (University of Zimbabwe)

Alternative or subversive? ‘Pirate’ Radio Stations and the Opening of Spaces of Freedom and alternative politics in Zimbabwe, 2000-2010

Chair: Mirca Madianou (University of Cambridge)

13.00-14.00

Lunch

14.00-15.30

Session 4

New media and global designs on local politics

Firoze Manji (Pambazuka News)

All that glistens is not always gold: experiences of new media technologies in Africa

Michael Keating (University of Massachusetts Boston)

Wiring the 2011 Liberian Presidential Elections: New Opportunities for International Collaboration in Media Practice

Peter Brett (School of Oriental and African Studies)

Media (new and old) and the transnational governance of African public spheres

15.30-16.00

Tea Break

16.00-17.30

Session 5
Political agency and networked publics

Okoth Fred Mudhai (University of Coventry)
African Civil Society Challeng of Ruling Elite via New Media

Alexandra Dunn (University of Oslo)
Public as Politician? Improvised hierarchies of participatory influence in the April 6th Youth Movement Facebook Group 

19.30

Conference dinner at King's College (paying delegates should book when registering for the conference through the online registration link)

Saturday 16 October

10.00-11.30

Session 6
Researching New Media

Paolo d’Urbano (School of Oriental and African Studies)

Ikhwanweb as a Digital Archive

Fanar Haddad (Independent Researcher)

‘An Undiscovered Archive? Online Video Sharing, Alternative Narratives and the Documentation of History.’

Chair: : Glen Rangwala (University of Cambridge)

11.30-11.45

Coffee Break

11.45-13.15

Session 7

New media and citizen-led governance

13.15

Lunch and close of conference