We’re deep in Wizard of Oz country this week bringing you APCOtv. For those who don’t know APCO represents emergency service first responders. Men and women who deal with the most harrowing situations day in and day out and we had several heart rendering stories to report on.

Also in America this week came a glimpse of the financial realities behind on-line video and the media industry in general. Whilst you tube is a testament to the phenomenal interest in on-line video we’ve yet to see the emergence of a sustainable economic model.

So when AoL/Time Warner released their latest results it gave us all a good opportunity to see how things are working out. It’s particularly interesting because that media giant has fingers in so many pies. And a rather clear – if slightly counter intuitive picture is emerging.

Contrary to public perception this isn’t a migration in income terms from traditional television to on-line video. Traditional television income still dwarfs on-line video and is holding up pretty well. And in absolute terms there’s no doubt that the big increases in advertising linked to on-line video have yet to emerge.

What is clear though is the dramatic fall in print revenues. Year on year declines in revenue of 10% or more are not unheard of. So media owners have  a big hole to fill and are struggling to do so. Strategy after strategy looks to on-line video display advertising to fill the gap and that just isn’t materialising.

So what’s the way forward? As far as on-line goes it’s simply a question of engagement. All the figures show that whilst people love watching video over the internet they’re not engaged by it. And given the smaller numbers compared to terrestrial television that means a lack of advertising revenue.

I think the good folks at APCO might give us a clue here. Waiting for the Wizard to deliver big revenues is just not going to happen. What we need to do is to make our programmes relevant and engaging to the people we serve. And if we do this the revenues to support it won’t be far away.

Thought so. And we are too here at WebsEdge. It’s been a busy year and there’s so much more to look forward to!

Last week in fact we were at the seaside in Bournemouth for the Local Government Association Annual Conference. We were there for two reasons; to show a series of programmes we made through the local government channel and to honour front-line workers through the council worker of the year awards.

Around the conference we conducted some research into how citizens interact with councils and what their major concerns are. As you can imagine people are concerned about crime etc but by and large they were happy enough with the overall job councils are doing. But what really surprised me was how poorly they think councils communicate. And get this. Only 6% use the Internet as their primary means of communication. When we pushed them further 64% wanted to see video as part of that communications mix.

A lot to ‘chew’ on when we made it over to the council worker of the year dinner. At the dinner we showed videos of each finalist which had played on our website over the past ten weeks allowing citizens to vote for their favourite worker. It was a good night and everyone enjoyed picking up their prizes and toasting the winners. View the winners collecting their awards!

But what stuck in my mind was the 21 year old man collecting his award for bravery. The video showed how he had saved several lives through cool thinking when the bus he was travelling on almost crashed because the driver suffered a heart attack. Luke received a standing ovation from the whole audience and was widely applauded in the press the next day. View his story here.

At the end of the day video tells powerful stories – be it on or off line. And if institutions are going to communicate with their stakeholders in the 21st century they’re going to have to make a whole lot better use of it.

Communications and consultation are the watchwords of local government today. In the UK, there have recently been a number of central government announcements about e-government becoming we-government. Citizens, we are told, will have more involvement in health and social care decisions in their local areas, and in the design and delivery of public services.

All well and good. The trouble is, the public doesn’t believe it will ever happen. Government consultation does not always have a very good record for translating into measures that the public has asked for.

WebsEdge has just conducted a survey of 1,000 UK citizens to find out what they think local government’s top neighbourhood priorities should be. Not rubbish, as you might be forgiven for thinking if you read the acres of newsprint in the UK devoted to the subject (waste management came a mere fifth). It’s neighbourhood crime. And what’s interesting, is that there is a real appetite for helping to solve it – by using local government websites more, by posting photos or videos of the results of anti-social behaviour to speed up local government decision-making.

At the moment, there isn’t a lot of incentive to use the website – only 6% of people mostly get their information about local government from the council website. But imagine if you made these sites dynamic and interactive, using the combination of visual (photos and videos) and text content that they asked for in the survey. You could build real online communities, and use them to engage residents to participate in real decision-making. With that, you might just find citizens and local government working more closely together after all.

Read How Councils Communicate: Feedback from Stakeholders GfK NOP here.

As WebsEdge is an online video content provider I was interested to read about this recent study about where people go to watch video. As I predicted: more people are viewing videos at their computer screens than ever before.

The argument here is that whilst traditional tv is still dominant it’s market share is falling at the expense of people watching on a PC. This trend is particularly prevalent among 12-17 year olds. Personally I think whilst a lot of this is true what we’re actually seeing is something even more interesting as the total amount of content viewed – on whatever platform – continues to grow.

I think there are four key reasons why watching TV and video over the internet is so popular: content, navigation, location and community.

I’ve argued before (and will again) that content is the driving force behind online video: there is simply more of it and any viewer can find something relevant to their interests. Similarly, the navigation possible online is far superior to traditional television: you can search for things that you want so that anyone can find exactly what they want, when they want it- without having to wait for the “scheduled program”. And with all the new devices coming to market the ability to watch tv wherever you want to is also important.

Finally, possibly the biggest push behind growth is the community aspect of internet TV or online video. Having the ability to comment on videos, share them with friends, and connect with people about video makes it a social movement and more interesting for all users. Viewing video is no longer just a passive activity: this is a very compelling market proposition.

With such advantages over traditional TV the trend towards watching video on computers is only going to keep growing. I look forward to seeing next year’s data - let’s see if it doubles again by 2009.

If you’ve been reading our blog regularly, you’ll have noticed the recent swell of posts around our trip to Africa to work with The Global Health Council. If you are new to the site, please read the WebsEdge in Africa blog here.

We’ve recently created a video upload facility, From the Field on Global Health TV, an online video site used to help raise awareness of health issues in the developing world.

The concept behind Global Health TV is that online video is the perfect medium to connect those throughout the world who are in a position to help. Although distributing video through mainstream media can reach a massive audience, online distribution reaches a very finely targeted crowd, who are more likely to contribute to the cause.

Mainstream media is also great at telling the big story, but often misses some of the smaller, but equally important stories. One of the benefits of Global Health TV is that we have been able to reach out and capture many stories directly from the communities most affected.

Global Health TV will also benefit the cause because it is a multidirectional form of communication: once videos are uploaded, the community can comment and interact with each other. Utilizing the social aspect of online video will connect dedicated advocates, strengthen the overall support group, and grow the community dedicated to social change.

So go on then don’t be shy! Go on to www.globalhealthtv.com and comment on the work that’s there and share videos with your friends and colleagues. And encourage people working in the field to upload their videos to carry on the conversation.

Our penultimate day was spent at the Candlelight Memorial. It was memorable for meeting the former President of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda. He was quite delightful and warmly greeted us every time we bumped into him. He was staying at the same hotel and allowed us to accompany him to the mausoleum of his friend and fellow freedom fighter, President Banda of Malawi.

Kenneth Kaunda has been one of the most out-spoken African leaders in the fight against Aids. When his son died of Aids related illnesses, he made this public and also went himself for Aids testing. Secrecy and stigma is a fundamental barrier to HIV/Aids prevention. It stops people wanting to know their status and when they do, from sharing that knowledge.
The morning started early when we, and the Global Health Council team bundled together into Gerald’s truck to travel to the CiVo stadium. There was great excitement surrounding the ceremony and in particular the arrival of Malawi’s President Mutharika, surrounded by men in black suits wearing dark glasses. The President toured the information booths, which sadly were not open to the general public.

After candle lighting, dancing and speeches, the stands were pulled down and everyone dispersed quickly.

The following morning we bade a sad farewell to Malawi. Back in Johannesburg, xenophobic rioting was taking hold of the townships. Safely tucked away at the airport, we waited for our flight back home reflecting on this life-changing experience.
A couple of weeks on and we thank all those that we met. The wonderful people of Ilinge seemed so grateful to us for visiting, but personally, they have given me far more than I could possibly offer them.
Thank you.

One of the aims today is to find time for a proper swim…..

Three quarters of the crew headed off very early to the Lighthouse Project leaving me to do battle with Avis to change our two inadequate vehicles for one with tyres big enough to cope with these roads (oh, and brakes, a complete exhaust and mileage under 100k miles would be nice).

The Lighthouse provides care and counseling for those infected and affected by HIV/Aids. Malawi is one of the most severely affected countries. About 15% of those aged 15-49 years are infected with the AIDS virus making it the leading cause of death in the most productive age group. Over 1 million adults and children are infected leading to around 80 000 deaths annually.

The Lighthouse integrates existing services and initiatives into one centre. TB is the other major health problem here and this is the first specialist centre in Malawi providing care and palliative support.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Avis have come up with the biggest 4×4 in the world. It has AVIS plastered all down both sides in 1m tall red letters. So much for trying to be inconspicuous! The vehicle appears to work. Gerald is now very happy and looking for pot holes!

Filming at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the equivalent to our DFID. Met a very interesting man called Jones from Population Services International (PSI). He had driven 3.5hrs from Blantyre, the other big city, where, incidentally there has not been any water for 4 days.

Next, we ventured down to the craft market to pick up some links. Tourists seem a bit of a novelty in Lilongwe. Particularly those with very big cameras. We make many instant friends. Of particular note is Alex’s Chelsea-supporting mate who rather worryingly for him, has relations in Brixton.

Hard to escape without spending some of our wodge of Kwacha so we have ordered some wooden carved signs for the office from ‘Mike and his uncle’. They are going to deliver them tomorrow.

It is very hot today…we might yet get that swim….

Sam is getting a bit fed up of wearing her yellow filming shirt….

In the afternoon, we visited the Baylor clinic, a very new, very shiny clinic supported by Baylor University, TX and the drug company, Abbot. There was a party going on with Malawian rap stars. This weekend club is for teenagers who know their status. They come together, have fantastic fun and support with the staff and each other.

After Baylor, we had to pop back to the market to pick up some other bits and pieces. En route to the hotel we parked up by a shanty town and filmed the quickest ever link. Gerald is a very good getaway driver…..

By the time we arrived back at the hotel tired and dirty it was sadly, too late for a swim… maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big Candlelight Memorial Day. It is hard to work out exactly what is going to happen but word is that President Mutharika is going to attend. It’s all very hush hush as there was an attempted coup last week. Bit of a problem when you can’t publicise a public event.

Anyway, we have to meet at 7.15am tomorrow to go over to the stadium. So off to bed.

Two days of manic filming.  We have visited the football stadium where Sunday’s Candlelight Memorial is to be held. They are holding a run through and there are groups of school children, boy scouts and adults waiting to practice their songs. The President of Malawi is expected on Sunday, so the excitement is rising…

The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is one of the world’s oldest movements for HIV/Aids remembrance, awareness and community action. The first memorial was started in 1983 by four men in San Francisco to remember friends who had died of a mystery virus. Now 1,200 volunteer Candlelight Coordinators in 115 countries host their own vigils involving tens of thousands of people.

The Global Health Council (GHC) oversees the Memorial and this year, the 25th anniversary, Malawi was chosen to host the focal event because of the success that HIV/Aids policies have had at all levels. The organisation Manet+ has the unenviable task of coordinating this snowballing event!

Laura and Todd from the GHC have arranged some visits for us to see some of the progress that has been made. So off we trekked in our Toyota Camry into the unknown. – vehicle not quite adequate for purpose…..

Not even our visits around Illinge and Ezibelini quite prepared us for what we have seen. The difference here is that there is no social support from the Malawian government. The country is one of the 5 poorest in the world. As we headed off the tarred road, the car bottom bumped and scraped on the home-made speed bumps and dived into the potholes.

The only occupation in this un-named community seems to be stone breaking. Children of all ages sit at the side of the road bashing stones for building purposes. We passed women carrying great trees or huge water containers on their heads, children running barefooted in ragged clothes and men just hanging around. It is a hand-to-mouth existence with any money that does come in, immediately feeding the family.

Our first stop in Paradiso Projects – a voluntary group that tries to reduce stigma and discrimination caused by HIV/Aids to a population where this is one of the main barriers to treatment, prevention and care. Paradiso was started by Mara, who lives here. She lost her job when she was diagnosed HIV+ and rejected by friends and family.

Mara took us all to Partners in Hope. This is a clinic where they send those that they have think may be infected with the virus. Patients have a choice between a free clinic and one where a nominal charge is made. Alex and Gerald were asked to film a woman who had come with us through her visit to the clinic. She had been counselled prior to the visit and had come voluntarily. The guys followed her into a closed room where the doctor tested her. It only takes 20 minutes for the result and as expected, it was positive. She will now return to the clinic on Monday for more counselling, testing and the drugs that can keep her healthy.

Gradually, in a small way Paradiso is making in-roads into the community. We shared a support group meeting and learnt all about the homemade remedies that those infected with the virus can use to stay healthy both before and after they manage to get hold of ARVs. And certainly it was making a difference to those attending the meeting.

While I attended the meeting with the GHC folks, Sam, Alex and Gerald headed off over a hill with a nurse to make a home visit. Here, there was not even the luxury of a candle – it gets dark at 5.30pm. There was no bed, just a rug on the floor. The man was ill, so no money and therefore, no food to feed the family of around ten mouths.

As darkness fell, I admit that I was worried that I had seen the last of the rest of the crew. This is not a place to be left in at night – particularly with in a Toyota Camry as your only transportation out. Now we know why all these NGOs spend their precious money on expensive 4×4s – it really is a requisite of the job. Roads are not really roads here.

But they did come back. More singing and dancing.

Then we bumped our way back for a shower to wash off the dust and dirt –  how different lives are.

I’m writing this from the departure gate at Johannesburg where we are waiting for our Air Malawi fight. We’ve had to come to the gate by 11 for our 12.15 flight because apparently the pilot may decide to leave at 11.15 instead! We’re only fractionally concerned that no one else seems to be on our flight , they obviously know something we don’t as the equivalent SAA flight is full.

So its our big transfer day and we were up before sunrise and not sorry to leave the B+B behind. We found the airport without getting lost at all and Gerald was delighted to finally get us into a Wimpy for our breakfast.

So far our first flight has gone without hitch, and now we have just been called to our Malawi flight so I will continue this when we arrive there….

Moni – Hello! Here we are, we arrived to a very green airport, and got through immigration without a hitch. The plane as it turned out was quite full and we have learnt why we were called so early – to encourage people not to be late. But that seems to have had limited success as we were still boarding stragglers after our departure time – good old African Time again.

After a few interesting moments at the car hire and Liz getting an enormous wodge of local currency we hit the road and arrived at our hotel. Lilongwe on first site appears to be very green and very spacious. We passed a wide variety of transport on the short journey, many people on foot of course, but many people on bikes carrying incredible loads like small trees and huge logs, they weave around under the heavy loads and so we gave them a wide birth, there are also old trucks spitting out black smoke, laden with all manner of freight in huge volumes.

The hotel itself is nice and Gerald, Alex and I went for a very very brief and cold dip in the pool last night, it was certainly refreshing.

We then met up with the Global Health contingent out here, Laura, Todd and Maurice. We all dined together on brai at the hotel, it was delicious but needless to say it didn’t compare with Gerald’s.

Before bedtime Alex hosted a mini screening of the messages which the Global Health team was really delighted with. Then finally to bed for a well earned rest.

To find out more about the 25th Annual International Candlelight Memorial click on the logo:

Today began with an early start for Gerald, Alex and Sam. David woke them up with a cup of tea and they set off to film the sunrise. Sam has filmed some challenging links for Stephen to pick up when he goes to the Global Health Conference in Washington at the end of next week. We are filming a package for that conference plus links that make it look as though Sam is here in Africa at the same time that Stephen is on the ground in the States – the wonders of television!

There are so many stories to tell that we could make a complete documentary. After breakfast, we packed up, said farewell to Roni and Jesse, then headed off to Illinge’s Multi-Purpose Hall, about 30 mins from Bholotwa. This community space is today home to a travelling healthcare facility – the Health Train. It is brought here by two organisations, the Small Projects Foundation and Phelophepa, which means ‘good, clean health’. Both bring healthcare to areas where it is not readily available. The Health Train comes to Illinge once a year. Today, the train had to stop in Queenstown and make the last part of the journey by road. It was as if the circus had come to town!

There were tents for eye tests, general medicine, dentists, HIV testing and counseling, gardening, nutrition, a pharmacy and one massive marquee where there were presentations all day about HIV/Aids and remembrances for Candlelight. We met Dr Paul Cromhout, the inspiring South African behind this initiative. Usually the people of Illinge would have to travel to Queenstown to see a doctor, some 30 km away. Of course they don’t go, because the choice is often between taxi fare or feeding the family. Medicines, which are supposed to be free are sometimes prescribed by healthcare workers who use their position to make a little extra themselves.

Sam interviewed Paul, walking through the crowd. As they progressed, they attracted growing attention. Both adults and children crowded round to see what all the fuss was about! Lots of the children (and the CCW) that we met yesterday came up for a hug, which was lovely. The queues to see the medical specialists grew by the minute. It was first come, first served and if anyone hears me complaining about the NHS again – shoot me!

We finally persuaded Monica and Heidi to be interviewed. So, back to the project house for a little peace and quiet. Heidi was really shy and I was worried that we were spoiling her birthday. But they are doing such fantastic work here, we should all be shouting about it!!

Sadly it was time to go. We said our farewells and look forward to welcoming Heidi and Monica in London this autumn. We managed to find our way back onto the right road this time. An uneventful journey except for Gerald having to do a little financial management for Ciaran on a layby in the middle of nowhere. Arriving at our B&B, we thought longingly of our lovely retreat at Bholotwa – no comparison (the only thing in this place’s favour was the warm running water).

An early start in the morning as we leave for Malawi, so off to bed.