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

2011 PAMRO meeting, media research conference set for Senegal

The 13th PAMRO meeting and All Africa Media Research Conference will take place from 21-24 August 2011 in Dakar, Senegal at the Le Méridien President Hotel. Updates on media audience research activities from countries from all parts of Africa will be provided. 14 Mar 2011 08:23

African media is surrogate opposition - Prof Tawana Kupe

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Due to the lack of a strong and united political opposition, the media in Africa, at least those that are critical of government policies, becomes a powerful force called a surrogate opposition, Prof Tawana Kupe, dean of faculty of humanities at Wits University, said this week in Johannesburg. 11 Mar 2011 10:29

Media freedom, self-regulation: the Ghanaian experience

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Until 1992, journalists and editors in Ghana, and the independent media in general, have suffered a lot at the hands of undemocratic regimes, which cracked down on critical reporting and imposed strict restrictions limiting media freedom. As a new, liberal constitution was being written in 1992, media activists came out guns blazing, demanding that media suffering end and reporting become free. [view twitterfall] 10 Mar 2011 10:06

Applications invited for UN journalism fellowships

[Carole Kimutai] The Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund for Journalists is now accepting applications from professional journalists from developing countries for its 2011 Fellowship Program. The application deadline is 6 April 2011. 10 Mar 2011 08:19

African media and the self-regulation dilemma

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] As the independent media in Africa is engaged in a fierce battle against repressive and not-so-democratic governments keen to sweep their corrupt wrongdoings under the carpet, the issue of self-regulation has become almost like a daily bread in many parts of the continent. [view twitterfall] 10 Mar 2011 08:07

Right of access to information hampered by govts - media conference

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] The right of access to information is being hampered in many parts of the world, especially in Africa, by government officials wary of journalists' desire to 'embarrass' them, and the state's 'insincere' reason of hiding behind the issue of national security. This emerged today, Wednesday, 9 March 2011, at the Regulations and Rights media conference at Wits University in Johannesburg. [view twitterfall] 9 Mar 2011 13:17

Adventure-fantasy radio drama launches in Mozambique

Late last week saw the launch of Mozambique's first adventure-fantasy serial radio drama Madjuba: Quest for the Talisman. Madjuba is a 13-part radio drama available in Portuguese, Changaan, and Sena, initiated by UNESCO with support from SIDA, produced by CMFD (Community Media for Development) Productions. It will be distributed to community radio stations across the country. 9 Mar 2011 09:02

U2360° broadcast live from Cape Town

U2's Cape Town concert scheduled for today, Friday 18 February 2011, will be broadcast live on Highveld and KFM in South Africa, alongside a live stream on DStv.com, throughout Africa. 18 Feb 2011 08:18

CNN enlists top journalism students for iReport initiative

ATLANTA, US: CNN has announced the launch of a new initiative for journalism students, called CNN iReport University, linked to iReport, the network's user-generated news community. 16 Sep 2010 10:35

AdReview... SA, SADC media facts 2010

In partnership with OMD, Tony Koenderman's AdReview is designed to provide expert and accurate media information covering South Africa and the SADC. The review covers Angola, Botswana, DRC, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. 19 Jul 2010 06:57

SADC Media Awards 2010 launched

[Issa Sikiti da Silva] Collins Chabane, minister in the presidency in charge of performance monitoring and evaluation, and government spokesperson Themba Maseko last night, Thursday, 4 February 2010, made an impassioned plea to South African journalists to participate in the SADC Media Awards competition, saying it promotes regional integration and togetherness through excellent journalism. 5 Feb 2010 08:18

Fictional heroes tackle climate change

[Tonya Graham] With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, a new soccer-themed radio drama on disaster risk reduction and climate change has hit the airwaves in Mozambique, produced by Johannesburg-based CMFD (Community Media for Development) Productions for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) as part of the UN Delivering as One, Joint Programme on Disaster Risk Reduction Project. 4 Dec 2009 07:09

Music video project for Africa

Pan-African music entertainment network MTV Networks Africa and oil marketer Shell have partnered to boost Africa's contemporary music industry. 22 Nov 2007 14:43