In this project, JIIM will target FM radio stations, TV stations, newspapers and online media operating in Juba, Bentiu, Torit, Kuacjok, Wau, Yambio, Awiel, Malakal, Bor and Rumbek in South Sudan. This project seeks to address the lack of cultural news programmes in existing media by training cultural reporters to source, produce and relay cultural news to the South Sudanese public. Twenty journalists will be trained in cultural reporting. Participants will learn to respect cultural diversity and abide by other cultural norms when reporting about South Sudanese cultures. The project will...
Countries: South Africa
Valley FM is a community-based radio that broadcasts from Worcester, Western Cape, where radio is the most accessible and cost-effective communication medium for the mostly farm-dwelling residents. As of 2013, the station had 121,000 listeners across 28 towns in a region where community issues are marginalized in media coverage by the national broadcaster. Valley FM broadcasts in three languages - Afrikaans (80%), isiXhosa (15%) and English (5%) – and covers local concerns that may not feature in national news, such as domestic violence and teenage pregnancy. The station also has a strong...
Journalists and media practitioners in Southern Africa face relatively similar regulatory and legislative challenges, exposing them to a wide range of risks in their line of duty. Among the regulatory and legislative challenges are repressive media laws, restrictive policies, and arbitrary arrests of journalists and denial of access to information, among others. For example, while in Zimbabwe journalists are subjected to a rigorous registration process and are denied access to information considered privy to the state through the Access to Information Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA),...
This project is focused on strengthening science journalism training at all tertiary levels, reaching both undergraduates and mid-career journalists on a post-graduate level. This will aim at training science journalists in South Africa every year and to provide training to students at postgraduate level to follow a course in science & technology journalism at Stellenbosch University. The initiative also builds on efforts by Tshwane University of Technology, Namibian Polytechnic and Makerere University to enhance science journalism reporting, within the framework of UNESCO’s work in...
This IPDC project proposal seeks support to build the capacity of the community radio sector in Namibia through a practical training, support and mentorship programme that will benefit marginalised communities in Namibia through participatory programme production. Further to UNESCO’s intervention to promote and support the Namibian community radio network and to enhance the capacity of radio practitioners to drive the development agenda, this project will extend the results of the Namibian Community Network Stakeholders Meeting and take forward the findings of the Community Broadcasting...
Since 2008 South Africa has experienced several spates of xenophobic attacks. Tensions between South Africans and foreign nationals living in townships and/or informal settlements are continuing to rise to alarming levels, and the media has gone little way to diffusing the situation. According to Blank and Bucholz’ article published in Research News: Xenophobia in South Africa, xenophobic attacks are fuelled by, amongst other factors, a failure on the part of the media to facilitate peace and harmonious living between the South African locals and the foreign nationals. Instead of...
The creation of 'Bush Radio' in 1992 marked the beginning of a new era in community media in South Africa, with over 120 licensed community radio stations existing today, providing coverage of a wide range of subjects which are of relevance at a local level. Whilst this increased representation of community issues within the media is undoubtedly a positive trend, there is a continued underrepresentation of female community radio presenters which needs to be addressed. This project will train 12 women volunteers and staff from 12 community radio stations in South Africa in order to equip...
Gender Links (GL) has conducted audits within institutions of higher learning in Southern Africa to determine if and how gender has been integrated in journalism and media education. From this research, it emerged that educators are generally willing to integrate gender into curriculum, but do not always have the capacity to do so. This project aims to address this issue by mainstreaming gender within journalism and media education and training curricula. In doing so, a foundation course will be developed and published, and six educators of Potential Centres of Excellence of Journalism and...
Much positive work has flown from the UNESCO-Commissioned Centres of Excellence in Journalism Study which commenced in 2006. The current project aims to take this momentum another step forward. It will build on the fact that representatives from the Centres will have been sensitised on best practice with regard to the importance of integrating ICTs into their curriculum, trained about the pedagogy and teaching issues, and will develop an interactive web platform for their Centres. The current project proceeds to practical skills training, new media production output and reflection. It will...
The community radio sector in West, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa suffers from sustainability and capacity shortcomings to actually implement the community radio mission of public service to provide communities with self-help for social, economic and cultural development. Furthermore, national community radio networks organised with the goal of strengthening the organisational development of their members have so far been effective only in a few countries: Ghana, Mali and South Africa. While some national networks have been highly successful in mobilising the community radio...
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