Please join us on May 6th, 2014 at 12:30pm ET at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, 23 Everett St, 2nd Floor for our Tuesday Luncheon Series, Cheap smartphones, digital news and the world’s biggest election with Hasit Shah, Nieman-Berkman Fellow in Journalism Innovation at Harvard & Senior Producer at BBC News in London.
If you are able to join us in person for complimentary lunch and conversation, please RSVP here: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2014/05/shah. Event will also be webcast live if you can't join us in person.
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On June 1, 2014 the world’s biggest democracy, India, will have a new government, after an enormous, complex election taking place over several weeks. This is probably the country’s first proper ‘digital’ election, with Internet-based campaigning and journalism coming to the fore. Those who are connected will see a very different election to those that have gone before.
However, we have to remember that even at the most optimistic estimates, no more than a sixth of Indians have access to the Internet. That’s a billion people who are being left behind. But smartphones are getting cheaper and mobile internet connections are becoming more easily available. The new Internet users will demand content that won’t be in English, that doesn’t necessarily demand high levels of literacy and works well on basic devices with erratic connections.
Location:
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
23 Everett St, 2nd Floor
