3 July 2008:  As anyone reading this right now can attest, the rising popularity of online news sources has allowed people all over the globe to become increasingly informed and knowledgeable of events, which involve peoples and places that would rarely otherwise cross their path. However, while news from around Africa continues to makes headlines all over the Internet these days, the subject matter tends to focus only on overwhelmingly negative aspects of African life. When Africa and Africans are discussed in the international media, the discussions almost exclusively focus on issues of conflict, hunger, disease, poverty, bad governance, and the like.

The leading force behind complimenting and combating this negative international media attention on Africa's behalf is another staggeringly ubiquitous internet-based phenomenon. The number of weblogs and bloggers that exist today seem to have reached near parity with the number of individuals worldwide who have access to an internet connection. The creation of “blogger” as a viable and sustainable career choice and the fact that many young and not-so-young people (present company included) must sheepishly admit to more often than not getting their information about what's going on in the world from a blog rather than from a more “legitimate” or “traditional” news source are testaments to the influence which some bloggers and blogs have these days. While some personal and commercial blogs can tend to be narcissistic or frivolous in terms of their subject matter, many others provide legitimate services to their readers and are committed to a specific cause.

One such cause gaining in popularity is that of promoting “the other side” of Africa—covering stories that specifically show the true beauty, heroism, and ingenuity, which can be found on the African continent. These blogs, while being different in nature, content, and focus; all share the common goal of exposing the world to the positive news coming out of Africa, often overlooked by international media outlets.

One of the most popular established and recognized of these blogs is one with a rather unique focus. Recognizing sub-Saharan Africa’s historical reputation of being “backward” or lacking in innovative spirit, AfriGadget’s content serves to debunk this myth and promote inspiring stories of local African technological and mechanical inventiveness. The site’s editors write that “AfriGadget is a website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. A team of bloggers and readers contribute their pictures, videos and stories from around the continent. The stories of innovation are inspiring. It is a testament to Africans bending the little they have to their will, using creativity to overcome life’s challenges.” This is what makes the site so unique: it is, ironically, the negative press and difficulties associated with life in Africa that make these cases of innovation all the more inspiring and impressive.

The blog has four main editors, each of whom run their own personal blogs on African issues as well. The content covers a broad range of topics—categories run the gamut of everything from food, water, energy, metal and wood-based inventions and projects to profiles of specific innovators to advancements in the areas of transportation, health, sanitation, and even toys. In an attempt to find even more tales of African ingenuity, the blog’s creators have also developed The Grassroots Reporting Project, which accepts donations toward putting technology like video cameras, cell phones and computers into the hands of individuals in various African countries in order to expand the on-the-ground reporting.

And so far their efforts have paid off: some of the site’s most popular posts—including the story of a man in Malawi who constructed a homemade windmill and a Kenyan videographer who created his own lighting equipment for a video shoot out of cardboard, aluminum foil and masking tape—have been picked up by other blogs. In fact, AfriGadget was recently named in Time Magazine's "50 Best Websites of 2008" list. According to Time, “AfriGadget isn't updated every day (and sometimes not even once a week), but it offers such distinctive reporting that you won't want to miss a single post.”

While some blogs focus on innovations, others choose to highlight the stories of people who make Africa such a unique region for other reasons. This was the reasoning behind the new blog African Heroes, which, as its tagline “stories of brave badasses” suggests, sheds some spotlight on Africans who are worthy of news coverage for the inspiring deeds they do and lives they lead. Emily Meehan, the blogger behind African Heroes and an American journalist living and writing in East Africa, chose this theme because she felt it would appeal to readers both inside and outside of Africa. "I use the theme of ‘badasses’ or heroes in proper English because I think it's something Americans love,” Meehan wrote in a recent email correspondence. “It's something my African heroes and most Americans have in common, they're all pioneers.”

Meehan is familiar with both worlds—until fairly recently she was a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, covering issues relating to twenty-something’s in America. However, working in the mainstream media lost its appeal after a while. “I got very tired of seeing that every media outlet was covering the same stories, very few of which interested me,” Meehan remembers. “So I decided to work on news that was under-reported.” The first step in this process was to find a location that interested her and a place where she could see her journalism making an actual difference in the lives of people. “I have always loved traveling to obscure places. I drew up a list of some obscure places with misunderstood troubles: Chechnya, Georgia, Somalia, Venezuela, and Congo. The Horn of Africa was just full of my ideal content.” So, in a move reminiscent of the badasses whom she has come to portray and admire, Meehan packed up her things and moved to East Africa with what most people would consider not much of a plan.

Meehan’s most recent hero is a man named Dr. Dihoud, a founder of the Somali National Movement (SNM) and the only psychiatrist in Somaliland, the autonomous region of Somalia, which has claimed independence but lacks formal recognition from the international community. Included on the blog is an audio clip of the man telling his story in his own words.

In the end, these blogs may never be as popular or well-read as the traditional news outlets, but the positive information that is being put out for public consumption is being produced by people with a true dedication to helping Africa and Africans. And, for the most part, being different is just fine with these bloggers—they’re out to provide a distinct alternative for media consumers. “When I first came to Africa I was coached by a very good journalist named Pedro. I had plans to write about corruption and war in Somalia. He told me not to,” Meehan explains. “Nobody cares, it's been happening for so long, don't just write the same story as all the others, he said. I don't completely agree with Pedro… But if my only news is bad news, how am I helping?”