UK firm to boost climate change coverage in EA

[Walter Wafula] WRENmedia, a United Kingdom-based a specialist communications company is set to sharpen reporting skills of journalists covering climate change issues in Eastern Africa, according to Susanna Thorp, director of the firm. 3 Jan 2012 09:07

Uganda: Oil and gas journalists to be honoured

[Walter Wafula] Ugandan journalists covering the oil and gas industry will be honoured for their work this year, in an effort aimed at raising the profile of good investigative journalism in the country. 4 Nov 2011 09:10

Google urges journos to go digital to thrive

[Walter Wafula] At the recent Google's gUganda conference held in Kampala, Ugandan journalists were urged to embrace digital tools such as smartphones and tablet computers to secure their future as content providers. 19 Sep 2011 12:37

[Highway Africa 2011] Making the media work with the civil society

[Gregory Gondwe] A meeting of senior media gurus from five African countries, took place on Saturday 17 September 2011 at the Highway Africa Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, agreed to disagree on whether the media needs to be bed fellows with civil society to achieve either parts' objectives or not. 19 Sep 2011 10:37

Germany to promote budget reporting in East Africa

[Walter Wafula] Germany's International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) is set to train East African journalists on covering public spending to improve reporting on national budgets and the use of tax payer's money. 7 Sep 2011 10:01

Press freedom celebrations tempered with concerns

Yesterday, Tuesday, 3 May 2011, was the 20th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, begun in Namibia as the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media throughout the world. Celebrations around the world were tempered with concerns about the erosion of press freedom and in South Africa, SANEF called on Government to review its proposed legislations that has seen SA downgrade from 'free press' to 'partly free'. 4 May 2011 09:13

Decline in press freedom experienced in key countries - report

WASHINGTON: The number of people worldwide with access to free and independent media declined to its lowest level in over a decade, according a Freedom House study released yesterday, 2 May 2011. The report, Freedom of the Press 2011: A global survey of media independence, found that a number of key countries experienced significant declines, producing a global landscape in which only one in six people live in countries with a press that is designated Free. 3 May 2011 14:00

Concern mounts over missing SA journo as govt scrambles to assist

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As concern mounts over the fate of Anton Hammerl, a South African photographer missing in Libya alongside two US journalists and one Spanish photographer, the Presidency said yesterday, Wednesday, 20 April 2011, that President Jacob Zuma has been briefed on the attempts made by the SA mission in Libya to locate Hammerl. Reports from Washington DC also suggest that the White House is very concerned about their well-being and it is trying hard to assist them in any way it can. 21 Apr 2011 11:10

EAC journalists to acquire reporting skills on regional integration

[Walter Wafula] East African journalists have an opportunity to acquire reporting skills on matters of regional integration through a new training programme that starts on 10 April 2011. 22 Mar 2011 12:15

SABMiller plc invests in the future of African journalism

SABMiller has announced that in 2011 it will become a co-sponsor of the David Astor Journalism Awards Trust, the UK-based charity which aims to promote, strengthen and support independent journalism in Africa. 22 Mar 2011 12:09

NMG dominates East African Business Council Awards

[Staff reporter] Business journalists from the Nation Media Group (NMG) scooped three of the four awards in the inaugural East African Business Council Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya on Monday night, 14 March 2011. 16 Mar 2011 10:28

African politicians ban media to avoid criticism - Henry Maina

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The fundamental reason that many African governments ban and harass the media has more to do with personal connotations than other issues, Kenya's Henry Maina, director of Article 19 Eastern Africa, told delegates at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference last week in Johannesburg. 16 Mar 2011 10:22

Dario Milo and media law: is legal sky a limit for journalists?

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] There is some substantiated regulation of what the media can do and what it cannot do, but the balance must be struck between what the law has prescribed and freedom of expression, Prof Dario Milo, Wits University media law visiting professor and Webber & Wentzel partner, said last week in Johannesburg at the two-day Regulations and Rights media conference. 15 Mar 2011 14:01

What to do with critical media: to regulate or not to regulate?

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As governments across the African continent come under increasing pressure from critical media, 'vulture' ruling parties believe the only way to deal with this 'surrogate opposition' is to regulate it through statutory mechanisms that will eventually dent its wayward reporting. But some African voices of reason, such as Zambia's Fred M'membe, argue that the restriction of good media never produces good media. 14 Mar 2011 10:50