Community Press Summit around the corner

The Awards, sponsored by Sanlam for the past sixteen years and designed to recognise excellence in community journalism, are traditionally given at a gala dinner.

The AIP's second Media Innovation Awards, designed to showcase and reward innovative strategies, tools and other business solutions for the grassroots or community publishing sector will, once again, also be announced at the gala dinner.

Conference

The programme for this year's conference will include a combination of twelve technical training workshops, alongside high-level AIP roundtable seminars with key industry decision-makers and other stakeholders. The lobby area will hold an exhibition with products and information services. A stall where visitors can purchase best selling autobiographies and manuals will also be on offer, at a discounted cash-only rate.

All FCJ seminars and training workshops are open to all interest groups, provided bookings are made beforehand as space is limited. There are no registration fees involved, due to the generous sponsorships from Sanlam and the Association of Independent Publishers, through a grant obtained from the Open Society Foundation. Roundtable sessions are, however, reserved for AIP members only.

Training sessions

The summit is viewed by small, independent and previously disadvantaged media as an important opportunity to review their activities at their scheduled AGMs, benefit from valuable training sessions and network with peers and leaders in the industry.

The FCJ was founded in 1990, as a sub-committee of the Community Press Association. In 2004, the Forum became an independent body representing the interests of community journalists countrywide. Its main mission is to promote the interest and nurture excellence in community journalism through a national programme of diversity, development and growth.

The AIP is a two-year-old organisation and is allegedly already the biggest umbrella body for independent and grassroots (community) newspapers in southern Africa. Part of its vision is to help conduct research, set standards, shape policy and champion the interests of small independent newspapers. AIP is also spearheading the development of new textbooks, management toolkits and tipsheets, and Open Source software products specifically designed for the grassroots publishing sector.

For more information, contact Cathy Pestana at the offices of Print Media South Africa on tel +27 (0)11 721 3200.