Tonight, the 15th May 2012, the MDDA is hosting a Welcome Cocktail to welcome community media and small commercial media delegates, partners and sponsors to a Corporate Governance Toolkit Pre-testing Workshop & Learning Forum to be held from tomorrow, 16th until the 18th May.
The workshop will be testing a Corporate Governance Toolkit drafted to assist the community broadcasting, community print and small commercial print media projects. The Learning Forum is an opportunity for local media to network and exchange ideas and experiences; therefore enabling peer review and learning among community radios, television stations, newspapers and magazines.
A special guest, the Chief Executive Officer of Sentech, Dr Setumo Mohapi is to deliver a welcoming address at the function. Sentech recently announced the tariff reviews for community broadcasters, and this is an announcement welcomed by the MDDA as it has a huge impact on the creating an enabling environment for community broadcasting.
Since 2009, the MDDA has been hosting the Learning Forums which provided the small commercial media a platform to exchange and discuss with industry players like the advertisers and marketers, publishers, government departments, policy makers, media buyers, etc. to debate issues of media development and diversity. The community media sector is joining the Learning Forums this year and begins to have similar discussions in relation to community broadcasting and print. This year's Learning Forums will kick-start with a Corporate Governance Toolkit Pre-testing Workshop for both print and electronic media sectors. The main beneficiaries of this toolkit are intended to be community broadcasting, community print and small commercial print media projects.
The Corporate Governance Toolkit Pre-testing Workshop is a consultative process that the MDDA is opening up to its beneficiaries to ensure that the resource is tailor-made to the sector needs and challenges. The Toolkit Pre-testing Workshop will take place on Wednesday, 16 May 2012.
"It is important for the Corporate Governance Toolkit to be responding to the needs and challenges faced by many of the community media and small commercial media projects, not only those supported by the MDDA as a development agency. Issues of Corporate Governance are key to the project's viability and sustainability. We envisage this Toolkit to be a working document for all to use as they enhance their operations, reporting and accountability standards," said MDDA Chief Executive Officer, Lumko Mtimde.
The workshop will be followed by the Learning Forum from the 17th till the 18th May 2012. The Learning Forum will have joint sessions that are targeted at both broadcast and print sectors and also feature sessions that are specific to each sector. The two-day programme will feature presentations from the Government Communications & Information System (GCIS), Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), The Media Connection, Department of Labour (DoL), Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USSASA), National Electronic Media Institute of SA (NEMISA). In addition, the MDDA has invited broadcast infrastructure partners like the New Installation Company (NIC), Buck Broadcast, and SoundFusion Media to begin a discussion on how best they can provide best service to the community broadcasting sector.
