OPride memo

Created on Monday, 14 November 2011 07:28

Dear Readers,

We apologize for the brief interruption in our service. OPride.com is now back in a beta version. We are testing a new platform which we hope will safeguard against any future disruption of service. During the maintenance, we also made some organizational as well as design changes.

Here are some visible updates:

1) Our logo

Oromsis, Where Opinion Matters is now replaced by OPride.com logo. We'll continue to feature views and opinions. Whereas Oromsis has been a good run, OPride.com is now shifting toward news gathering and curation. The Horn of Africa has become the hotbed of conflicts. We hope to expand our reach and curate news from around our sub-region, primarily Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, and Eritrea. We’ll focus on news and views with broader regional implication.

2) Organizational Changes
Mohammed Ademo replaces Oromsis Adula as OPride.com’s editor. Ademo will be the official representative and point person for news and web-content related inquires.

Oromsis Adula’s Facebook profile is now disabled. All friends have been migrated over to Mohammed Ademo’s account and will continue to receive our public updates. We hope the transition will help us manage the account better as well as improve interaction with readers. Stick with us and tell others to subscribe to Ademo’s public updates.

3) We’ll curate it for you
On the right hand-side below “Irreechaa videos” and above the ‘Follow Us’ section, we are experimenting with paper.li. We will curate; Oromo, Ethiopian and Horn of Africa news using the latest from around various social media platforms. Subscribe to @OPride’s newsstand to get daily updates emailed to you as they become available.

4) Occasionally, we will storify developing stories using Storify. A link to our storified stories will be included after each prompt. Once on Storify, remember to follow Ademo for storified scoops. Examples: here and here.

5) We are looking for student journalists and freelance writers interested in the Horn of Africa, mainly Ethiopia. A small stipend will be provided based on available funds. Priority will be given to those applying from Ethiopia. Send your resume to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

6) The current release is still in beta, a work in progress, if you notice a bug/error please don’t hesitate to contact us. Or if you have suggestions on how to improve the site, we want to hear from you.

OPride.com Team