Award Information
New media has changed public participation and activism in Africa. Citizen journalism is an important platform through which citizens participate and generate content with the potential to shape peace and conflict discourse and outcomes in Africa. As a departure from a state-centric approach to understanding conflict in Africa, this study explores the contribution of citizens to addressing violence through the citizen journalism platform. This research examines public participation in responding to violence through citizen journalism using as a case study the Ushahidi platform's emergence and strategies in addressing the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya. Using a qualitative method, data is gathered through semi-structured and focus group interviews of the Ushahidi's platform members and partnered organisations. Intermediary groups such as the mainstream media professionals and civil society organisations also form a part of the groups targeted for data collection. This research uses thematic analysis for data interpretation.