By: Abdirahman Aynte
Hiiraan Online
I. Introduction and brief History
Communication in the Somali society has been transmitted orally for a longtime, earning a widely reciprocated nickname for the Somali people: an “oral society”. In part because the medium for which the communication is without it impossible, the Somali language, was barely written 30 years ago.
The first exposure to media in Somalia, therefore, had to come in an oral form. In the early 1950’s, Radio Hargeisa was established in the then British protectorate, now breakaway region of Somaliland. Around that same time, Gamal Abdelnassir, Egypt’s late ambitious leader ordered Radio Arab Voices, a Pan-Arab broadcasting service out of Cairo to open a Somali speaking service. The short program was barely audible in some parts of Somalia. In 1957, three years before the independence of Somalia from Britain in the North and Italy in the South, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) launched a Somali speaking service based in London as part of its international services. Several years later, Radio Mogadishu was launched in the now ruined capital, Mogadishu.
Somali-speaking people scattered over four nations in the Horn of Africa, continued to transmit mass communication orally until 1973 when the Somali language was, for the first time, written unripe in a Latin alphabet. Following that breakthrough, the first form of print media, “Xiddigta Oktoobar” (October Star), a government controlled daily newspaper was published the next year. Along with Radio Mogadishu, October Star resembled the propaganda machine of the communist-turned-socialist government of Gen. Mohamed Siyad Barre, the late dictator president of Somalia.
Disgusted with too much self-glorification, Somalis turned to the BBC Somali Service (BSS) to counter government propaganda. For many, the five o’clock afternoon hour was exclusively allotted to the 30-minute, now 1 hour, broadcasting service to receive government gossip and, sometimes facts that government media deliberately withheld, such as the presidents’ near fatal automobile accident in 1986. BSS’s reputation was hardly tainted, sinking knee-deep in the hearts of majority of its listeners.
Print media was no different. Strict draconian laws and low literacy rates among Somalis allowed October Star to remain the sole print media outlet in the country until the military regime was toppled in 1991. Robust Diaspora communities, estimated at two million, sought refuge around the world, particularly in the West. An explosion of print media erupted nationwide and, to a lesser degree, in Diaspora communities.
That newspaper boom continued up until the dot com boom in the late 1990’s, when several Somali websites emerged in sheer numbers on the World Wide Web. By early 2001, at least 100 Somali websites, offering news and information about Somalia, were established. The number skyrocketed from there on, having a profound impact on the use of traditional media (mostly radio and newspapers).
Despite the surge in websites, BSS continued to be engrossed in the hearts and minds of most Somalis, including the Diaspora communities. Arguably, the BBC remains to be the most popular source of news and information about Somalia, despite vocal chorus criticizing its programming and quality. (1)
II. Background Information about websites
Today, more than 300 Somali websites for different purposes exist. Most popular genres include: news, information, entertainment, and faith-based. Similarities in design and in service among Somali websites outnumber differences. Almost all of them operate in an aggregated fashion, offering a one-stop news, information, opinion, sports and entertainment sections. Mundane things such as obituaries, weddings announcements and classified ads, historically monopolized by traditional media, are now almost entirely available on websites. Like their audience, the vast of majority of Somali websites are administered by Diaspora Somalis. (2)
In fact, evidence shows that Somali immigrants have higher internet usage rates compared to their peers. A survey conducted by Wilder Research, an arm of Wilder Foundation, in 2000 shows that 42% of Somali refugees in Minnesota consider “the internet” as their main news source, compared to 12% - 18% among Latino, Hmong and Russian communities. (3) Cognizant that Somalis are the latest wave of immigrants to Minnesota and, notwithstanding limited internet availability at the time of the survey, the study is indicative to the community’s substantial appetite for using websites as an alternative media source.
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Somali Service staff, from left to right: Said A. Musa, Ahmed H. Awke, Abdullahi M. Hassan, Mohamed Mohamoud-Cadde, Amina M. Wehelie, Adan N. Dule, Yusuf-Garaad Omar, Kari Blackburn and Ahmed A. Nur.
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The popularity of Somali websites over traditional media among Diaspora communities can further be attributed to the unavailability of traditional media, especially the magnificently addictive BBC Somali Service, barely outside of Africa and few other locations before it was finally made available online in 2001. Elderly Somalis particularly suffered without the BBC. (A friend of mine told me the story of his neighbor in California who used to receive a weekly dose of taped BBC programs sent to him from London by one of his sons who was obligated to do just that for his addicted father until the BBC was finally streaming online).That excruciating experience prompted some Somalis to explore new ways to stay connected with the homeland. The World Wide Web not only became the answer but staged a gateway to the BBC: today, almost all websites render three links to all three daily BBC programs to woo more traffic.
Inside Somalia, where the Internet service is prohibitively limited, the findings are quite flabbergasting. One estimate puts the Internet usage just 10% shy of landline telephones and almost 50% greater than the decade-old mobile phone technology. (4) Another statistic reflects that internet usage in Somalia grew 44,400% in the last five years, registering the highest in Africa. (5)
The websites are so informative that one can even access the entire constitution of Somalia and the annual budget of Somaliland in 2006, including, among other tedious things, President Dahir Riyale Kahin’s excessive salary. (6)
III. Escaped Technology?
In a sense, the swift spread of Internet technology usage within Somalis underscores how the technology has escaped within this community so vastly. (By contrast, an Ethiopian colleague of mine confirmed with me that his community, albeit an abundance in number, has fewer “news and information” websites than Somalis.) Although chiefly unsustainable, an average of one new website emerges a month. It is arguable, nonetheless, that due to the deeply seated polarization among Somalis, often for tribal motives, the leap in websites is totally comprehendible.
Websites have particularly gained from their non-linear, interactive and convenience-oriented service. For the first time in their history, Somalis found a leveled plain-field where they can engage in an almost limitless discourse, regardless of tribe, class or location. Quite the contrary, traditional media (radio stations, newspapers and TV stations) have retained supremacy along tribal, class and gender lines. So-called “major tribes”, men and the affluent portion of the society had – and continue to – dominate traditional media unchallenged.
IV. Websites as an alternative media
The prevalence use of websites by Diaspora and local communities as an alternative media has several identifiable trajectories:
A. Possible departure from oral society.
Perhaps the term “oral society” becomes unfit, if not condescending, at least for Diaspora Somalis as their utility and technical-know-how of the internet increases pointedly.
B. Preservation of Somali language, literature, and culture.
Somali websites are also conducive to the preservation of the severely underdeveloped Somali language. A maximum utility of the three-decade-old language in a communication module is underway. Many people who never had the opportunity to learn Somali language in schools are being exposed to written forms of the language on the websites. This trend, alas, passes largely unappreciated and unnoticed by most readers of the websites. But it’s conceivably the most vital use of the internet. Ditto the Somali literature. Had it not been the websites, Somali music, lyrics, poems and other forms of literature may have been totally submerged as there are no encyclopedias, libraries or institutions in working conditions.
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Aftahan one of the websites that preserves Somali language and literature
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In fact, such websites as Aftahan.com, Afgarad.com and Somalipen.org, just to name a few, are small, but vocal portals promoting the preservation of Somali language and literature. Some are engaged in an advanced development of the language with the help of the icon, Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame (Hadraawi), a respected authority in Somali literature who now has his own website, Hadrawi.com, where he sparingly discusses Somali literature.
Unfortunately, first generation Diaspora Somalis may have already lost much of the language, or blended it with other languages in their respective new countries. A recent observation of Somaliaonline.com, a popular blog for young, Diaspora-schooled, urbane Somalis around the world indicates a peculiar mix of Somali and English, already termed “Somenglish” by one blogger. A benign discussion about “Somenglish” leads to one of the members to exemplify “Waryaa yesterday ayaan ku soo wacay, and, you didn’t call me back. Maxaa qabanee tomorrow?” This member was quickly rebuked by another who disqualified that statement from “Somenglish”, only to introduce his ideal one: “That’s not Somenglish sxbow. You want inaa ku speakgareysid Somenglish? Waa inaad isku mix gareysaa, haddii kale it becomes sentence-yaal la is daba dhigay.” Ironically, all seem to be enjoying this discussion. (8)
C. Media convergence.
The most dynamic trajectory for using websites as an alternative media is merging it with other types of media, such as radio stations and newspapers and incorporating them into a single online publication. This process, known as “media convergence”, is taking a remarkable toll in Somali media. Nearly all websites practice one of form of “media convergence” or another. A sizable number of them materialize all forms of convergence. Chief among them is Somaliweyn.com, which frequently posts audio and video sound bites from an affiliate radio and TV stations in Sweden and in Mogadishu. Hiiraan.com, arguably the most popular Somali website, routinely uses sound bites and imagery for stories and interviews. Many others, such as Allsbc.com and Hornafrik.com are subsidiaries of an existing radio or TV stations. Seldom is news item available only in text or audio format on the aforementioned websites.
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The talk about media convergence becomes incomplete without mentioning aminarts.com, a virtual studio for the extremely popular political cartoonist, Amin Amir. It’s this website that deciphers the otherwise cumbersome political process of Somalia. Mr. Amir, dubbed the best cartoonist and person of the year by Hiiraan.com, draws weekly cartoons, sketching the political saga in satiric fashion. He often captures the underlying political maneuvers that websites and traditional media collectively failed to portray. His cartoons are highly affectionate, exhilarating and sometime nerve-racking.
Media convergence is particularly an area where traditional media has fallen behind significantly. Although the BBC Somali Service has a website, its contents are internationally-geared with little relevance to local issues, thereby sacrificing immense readership. When national events occur, Somali websites exceedingly outpace traditional media in breaking news, sometimes with video clips. For example, when the newly formed Somali parliament erupted in ballistic brawl on March 17th last year, Somali websites expeditiously posted the entire burst, video and audio, on their front pages for extended periods of times. Likewise, when Swedish authorities unexpectedly arrested Col. Abdi Qaybdid, a senior police officer visiting there in connection with mass murder, Somali websites not only posted a video clip showing his sensational arrest but literally re-broadcasted a tape used for his indictment. His subsequent exoneration by Swedish court which released him was also posted online minutes later. Ditto for another clip showing a young, knife-wielding, mentally-ill Somali man shot to death by police in Columbus, Ohio.
Leaders of the limping Transitional Federal Government (TFG) routinely rely on websites for complete coverage when visiting international destinations. The most recent TFG visit to Brussels was not only covered by freelance reporters, but the entire press conference with EU leaders remains accessible on some websites. More importantly, websites report from remote parts of Somalia, often with digital images- another area where traditional media, for all its constraints, underperformed. Reciprocating such images for extended period of times, stirred a “virtual community” and an unforeseen national solidarity.
D. Introduction to advertisement.
Before websites got a grip on Somalis, particularly the Diaspora community, whose purchasing power is enormous, advertisement was confined to few radio stations for fewer allotted timetables. Today, nearly all websites have some ads in their front pages. Some, such as Hiiraan.com, found headways in commercial advertisement to the tune of thousands of dollars annually – a remarkably good deal for a market that continues to resist commercial advertisement. Of course, most Somali webmasters pay trivial to operate a fairly low-to-mid quality websites, enabling them to afford to be in business even without an established market for advertisement revenue.
Products and services advertised on Somali websites are predominantly intended for Diaspora audiences. Some are for local consumers and some are for both consumers.
Major advertisers are:
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For Diaspora: Money wiring companies, live music concerts, new record albums, films, shops, malls, not to mention immigration and accounting services.
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For locals: Telephone and Internet companies offering products and services.
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For both: Hotels, real estate, job vacancies, travel agencies, restaurants and books.
E. Employment.
Somali websites are major employers inside Somalia. Nearly all websites have a reporter who’s typically armed with a computer, internet connection and a digital camera. They feed daily, weekly and monthly stories from Somalia to entertain the growing audience of the websites. The median monthly salary of a reporter in Somalia is $150-$200, a lucrative deal for a reporter with little or no training in a country whose unemployment rate exceeds 85%. (7) The industry is so popular that Ahmed Idaawaqaca, a former online reporter for Somaliweyn.com and HornAfrik.com was recently hired by the BBC Somali Service.
F. Mobilizations and humanitarian appeals.
A growing trend is community mobilizations and announcements utilizing websites as a platform to outreach others. Following brutal beheading of five Somali men accused of drug trafficking at the behest of Saudi Arabian government last year, community activists around the world used Somali websites to launch a massive demonstration in front of Saudi Embassies in London and other European capitals.
Equally growing is the use of websites for humanitarian appeals. Currently, several websites have postings asking financial support for young, often naturally deformed children in Somalia. A single appeal for severely disabled child might appear on several websites. For a number of years, Isse Dhollawaa, a Somali native who is naturalized Australian and his Australian native wife pioneered “humanitarian trips” inside Somalia to bring severely deformed children back to Australia for treatment. The websites served as a platform for Dhollawaa and his wife. And just in the last year, Mayo Clinic, a prestigious hospital in Minnesota accepted to treat a severely deformed young girl posted on a Somali website without charge. While preparing her administrative procedures, volunteers realized that the young girl had been admitted into another less bureaucratic hospital in the Austrian capital, Vienna, with the help of naturalized Norwegian volunteer who saw the appeal on the websites.
G. Incitement and marginalization.
Having said that, however, it is erroneously misleading to illustrate Somali websites as an utopian platforms designed to do good deeds. A fair number of websites are notoriously known for their senseless incitement- one that comes with multiple forms and shapes. Most websites deliberately avoid negatively implicating their tribe or warlord in a news item, opinion or an editorial. Others openly post press releases from their tribes’ elder-men, irrespective of the content. A near routine procedure for some websites is to publish letters from their tribe, allegedly signed by tens of reputable professors, engineers, high ranking military officials and intellectuals, often to solidify the tribes’ political position. More often, those signatories were neither asked proper authorization nor were they aware of such a meeting.
Audaciously, some websites are named after tribes while others demonize tribal foes in an editorial piece or suggestively call for a “self defense” war (9). It’s not an understatement that majority of Somali websites foster tribal views and are accurately reflective of their tribes’ political, social and occasionally military agenda.
A truth-seeking reader ought to travel an extra mile and constantly renegotiate facts to identify several key websites who built rapport with readers and established themselves as fairly objective sites. Unfortunately, such websites are handful among the innumerable on the Internet.
VI. Conclusion
The state of Somali websites maybe characterized as an anticlimactic in its scrutiny-free, tribally-motivated style, but the overall prevalence use of the technology is certainly a noticeable departure from the “oral society” age. The use of Somali websites may qualify to become a cultural phenomenon, emblematic of Somalis’ love to talk – this time, in a written form. Despite relatively new exposure to internet technology, Somalis seem to be quickly picking it up and perhaps escaping with it. Cognizant that websites are non-linear, two-way form of mass communication, its use morphed from an experimental to experience age. Somali websites are doubtlessly becoming a competitive alternative media and a force to reckon with, especially in the areas of media convergence, news pace and opinion variety. The relatively affordable and easily operatable internet technology is giving websites an obvious edge. The Diaspora community’s purchasing power combined with its convenience-oriented demand for information is another advantage for websites. As more Diaspora and local consumers turn into websites for news and information, traditional media appears to be losing some important constituency, should they not stay competitive in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.
Works Cited:
Abdirahman Aynte is an editor with Hiiraan Online based in Minneapolis, Minnesota
E-mail: [email protected]