[imc-sa] Fw: [Alternative Media] INVITE: R2K Seminar on Media Diverisry
Molefi Mafereka Ndlovu
molefindlovu at yahoo.com
Mon Jul 11 23:31:27 PDT 2011
----- Forwarded Message ----
From: "Mark Weinberg @ AIDC" <mark at aidc.org.za>
To: alternative-media-za at googlegroups.com
Sent: Sat, July 9, 2011 11:51:28 AM
Subject: [Alternative Media] INVITE: R2K Seminar on Media Diverisry
Hi Alt Media,
The Right2Know Campaign is hosting a one day strategy seminar on Media Diversity
and Advancing the Right2Know on the 26 July 2011 from 09h30 to 17h00 in
Johannesburg. The Seminar aims to consult Campaign stakeholders to develop
perspectives and plans to campaign for greater media diversity.
Please see the attached invite and concept note and programme below for more
details.
Spaces are limited so please indicate your interest in participating soon as
possible - no later than 15 July.
We hope many of you will attend and look forward to your contribution.
Mark
--
Mark Weinberg
t 0214472525
c 0741036704
mark at aidc.org.za
www.aidc.org.za
www.amandla.org.za
www.communitymedia.org.za
### SEMINAR CONCEPT NOTE ###
At it’s first National Summit in February 2011 the Right2Know Campaign noted
that while the Campaign was launched in response to the Protection of
Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill), the Bill was itself symptomatic of a
broader threat to the free flow of information in South Africa. The Summit
adopted a Vision & Mission Statement (see Appendix 1) and resolved that the R2K
Campaign should broaden its focus from the Secrecy Bill to include other aspects
on access to information as well as defending and enhancing the dissemination of
information – media freedom and diversity (see Appendix 2: R2K Resolution on
Media Freedom & Diversity).
The Right2Know Campaign is holding a one day Strategy Seminar on the 26 July
2011 from 09h30 to 17h00 in Johannesburg to consult Campaign stakeholders,
develop perspectives and plans to campaign for greater media diversity.
Seminar Background
There’s a high concentration of media ownership with an estimated 90% of South
African media controlled by five companies (four commercial and one public).
This together with the commercialization of all spheres of media (commercial,
public & community) impacts negatively on diversity and the free flow of
information.
Developing a strong and independent community media sector that can meet the
information needs of marginalized communities is critical to address this lack
of diversity and making the Constitutional rights to access information and
freedom of expression real for the majority of South Africans.
South Africa has made important strides in developing a community media sector.
In particular there are currently over 100 community radio stations broadcasting
to almost all urban and peri-urban townships and many rural villages in South
Africa. The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) reported in
June 2008 that these stations collectively have 7 200 000 daily listeners. A
separate household survey conducted amongst listeners of 15 community radio
stations by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE) found that 95% of
respondents listen to their community radio stations daily.
The South African community radio movement is based on the belief that radio is
the most affordable, egalitarian and accessible communication technology
available and should be harnessed, at the community level, to carry forward the
country's reconstruction and development. The South African community radio
movement supports the definition of community broadcasting in the Windhoek
Charter on Broadcasting in Africa (2001): "Community broadcasting is
broadcasting which is for, by and about the community, and whose ownership and
management is representative of the community, which pursues a social
development agenda, and which is non-profit”.
These projects are stable and self-sustaining despite the many challenges they
face in generating income, quality content and meaningful community
participation. Despite these challenges, some community radio stations, through
their programming, news, and attention to local language and culture, have
established themselves as unique voices in the South African media.
One of the key strengths of community radio is its diversity and geographical
spread – community radio stations work with diverse constituencies right across
South Africa in urban settings as well as in the rural periphery bringing
together different gender, race, age, political, and socio-economic groupings.
However this sector as a whole remains weak, under-resourced and dependent on
market forces for sustainability, which erodes community ownership and control.
In this context the 2010 Public Service Broadcast Bill (BSB) contained a number
of potential opportunities and threats for the independence and function of
community broadcasters. The proposed Bill proposed establishing a Public Service
Broadcasting Fund to lessen the market dependence of media projects but
prescribed a charter for community broadcasters that laid out the size,
composition and terms for governance structures and includes a controversial
proposal that municipal officials become ex-officio members of the governing
boards of stations. It also suggests that the primary role of community
broadcasters is to provide information about what Government and municipalities
are doing, suggesting a more passive, ‘mouth-piece’ role and dilutes the
critical role that this sector can play in facilitating and encouraging vigorous
and robust debate on development priorities in their local contexts and taking
on municipalities and Government for service delivery failures and corruption
where necessary.
The Bill was met with significant resistance from civil society forcing the
Minister of Communications, Mr. Roy Padayachie, to announced that the proposed
Bill would be put on hold and that an extensive Ministerial Policy Review of all
Broadcast Policy would be undertaken in 2011.
The seminar aims to develop civil society capacity to engage in this critical
policy review process to ensure that media freedom and diversity is enhanced in
South African and an enabling environment is created where community media can
thrive to serve the communication needs of our communities.
Who should attend?
The Strategy Seminar is open to a wide range of community media stakeholders
form civil society including community media stations/publications, trade
unions, social movements, faith based organisations, CBOs and NGOs.
Participants at the workshop should be in general agreement with the Right2Know
Campaign’s Vision and Mission (see Appendix 1), Principles (see Appendix 2) and
Resolution on Media Freedom and Diversity (See Appendix 3), as these are the
starting point for the discussion.
Unfortunately participation in the seminar will be limited because of budgetary
constraints. If you are interested in attending the seminar please
email mark at aidc.org.za before the 15 July 2011.
Draft Seminar Programme
The draft programme for the Strategy Seminar for the 26 July 2011 in
Johannesburg is as follows:
9h30 Registration
10h00 Welcome & Introductions
10h15 INPUT: Media Freedom & Diversity - Presentation of R2K
National Summit Resolution
10h30 DISCUSSION - initial responses to Resolution
11h30 TEA
12h00 INPUT: Media Concentration, Ownership & Control
- Presentation of R2K discussion document
12h30 Discussions on Media Ownership & Control
13h00 LUNCH
14h00 PANEL: Community Media challenges and Alternatives (based
on R2K discussion document)
- Funding Community Media
- Community Media Governance/Independence
- Community Media Programming/Content
15h00 COMMISSIONS on panel themes and plotting way forward?
15h30 TEA
16h00 Commissions report
16h30 Way Forward & Plan of Action
- further consultation within and beyond R2K
- engaging the Ministerial Policy Review
- popular education & mobilization
17h00 CLOSURE
### ENDS ###
APPENDIX 1: Right2Know Campaign National Summit Resolution on Media Freedom and
Diversity
The Summit noted that:
§ There’s a high concentration of media ownership with 90% of South
African media controlled by five companies (four commercial and one public).
This impacts negatively on diversity and the free flow of information;
§ Mainstream media represents the interests of a small and elite
ideological base;
§ SA has been at the forefront of launching community radio. However, this
sector remains weak and under-resourced and dependent on market forces for
sustainability, which erodes community ownership and control;
§ The role of ICASA has been unable to perform its key function of
monitoring compliance and its regulatory functions, especially in relation to
the SABC;
§ The ruling party’s proposed Media Appeals Tribunal (MAT) poses a
significant threat to media freedom and independence. However, there is a
increasing trend amongst the print media for sensationalist reportage that lacks
in critical depth and adopts citizens ‘ agenda, and a lack of community and
minority (women and children etc.) representation;
§ There is tremendous development and democratic potential in social media
as portals for exercising people’s rights.
Believing that:
§ Freedom of expression is a foundational Human Right and media freedom is
an integral component of freedom of expression;
§ The media is a public good and should not be commodified for purely
profit-driven purposes;
§ A strong and independent regulator is critical for an independent
broadcast media that functions free from government and commercial interference;
§ There needs to be diversity of ownership (private, government and
community) that each have the responsibility exercise a high standard of
journalistic ethics, including accuracy;
§ The media should offer diverse content and include the voices of poor
and working class people;
Therefore the Summit resolved:
1. To campaign to strengthen ICASA to ensure that it functions and regulates
courageously in the interest of the public, and not government and commercial
interests;
2. Campaign for the adequate and sustainable funding of community media.
Community media should not be overly reliant on market sources of funding;
3. Campaign for the adequate funding of the MDDA and to ensure that it is
independent, more effective, and that it is more transparent and accountable in
its processes, so that it fulfils its mandate of growing and diversifying the
media;
4. Ensure that community stations are democratically owned and controlled by
the community, and to support communities in claiming their ownership and
participation in their stations,
5. Explore possible anti-trust measures to limit the concentration of media
ownership;
6. Reject the Media Appeals Tribunal or any statutory regulation that
impacts on editorial freedom in the print sector;
7. Campaign for redressing infrastructural impediments to the exchange of
information including accessible and affordable broadband for internet access;
8. Engage in the policy review process on the far reaching Public Service
Broadcast Bill that is to be conducted by the Department of Communications to
ensure that these resolutions and principles are applied and upheld in any
legislation.
APPENDIX 2: Right2Know Campaign Vision & Mission
The Right2Know National Summit in February 2011 workshopped and adopted the
following vision and mission statements for the campaign:
Our vision:
“We seek a country and a world where we all have the right to know – that is to
be free to access and to share information.
This right is fundamental to any democracy that is open, accountable,
participatory and responsive; able to deliver the social, economic and
environmental justice we need.
On this foundation a society and an international community can be built in
which we all live free from want, in equality and in dignity.
”
Our Mission:
§ To co-ordinate, unify, organise and activate those who share our
principles to defend and advance the right to know.
§ To struggle both for the widest possible recognition in law and policy
of the right to know and for its implementation and practice in daily life.
§ To root the struggle for the right to know in the struggles of
communities demanding political, social, economic and environmental justice.
§ To propagate our vision throughout society.
§ To engage those with political and economic power where necessary.
§ To act in concert and solidarity with like-minded people and
organisations locally and internationally.
APPENDIX 3: Right2Know Campaign Principles
The Right2Know National Summit in February 2011 workshopped and adopted the
following principles for the Campaign:
“R2K Principles (“The Shalimar Principles”)
Preamble
We subscribe to the right to know, which is founded in the right to dignity and
is realised through rights freely to access and share information.
We shall defend and advance the right to know, encouraged that it and its
constituent rights were won through peoples’ struggles in South Africa and
internationally, and are affirmed in the Constitution of South Africa, the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights.
We commit to the following principles, both in our own policies and practices
and in the vision we propagate throughout society:
Principle 1: Access to Information
All people have the right to access information, and have it equally. This right
has inherent value and enables many other democratic rights.
The right to access information must be defended and advanced in law, policy and
practice as demanded inter alia by section 32 of the Constitution of South
Africa.
Principle 2: Free Flow of Information
All people have the right to express themselves – that is to share information,
including opinion – freely and equally. This right has inherent value and
enables many other democratic rights.
The right to free expression must be defended and advanced in law, policy and
practice as demanded inter alia by section 16 of the Constitution of South
Africa.
Principle 3: Free and Diverse Media
The media have rights and corresponding duties to access and disseminate
information, including opinion, freely and fairly, without fear or favour. These
rights and duties are vital to the public’s exercise of many other democratic
rights.
Media freedom must be defended and advanced in law, policy and practice as
demanded inter alia by section 16 of the Constitution of South Africa.
Media diversity must be extended so that everyone, in particular
the socially and economically marginalised, shall have a voice.
Principle 4: Accountability and Transparency
Transparency, achieved through the right to know, holds power to account so that
political, social, economic and environmental justice is realised.
Principle 5: Informed Public Participation
The right to know empowers all people to participate in democracy actively and
effectively so that they can defend and advance their political, social,
economic and environmental rights.
Principle 6: Truth and Quality of Information
The rights to access information must be served through the provision of
information that is reliable, verifiable and representative of the data from
which it is derived, and must include the right to access source data itself.
Information must be provided transparently and equally, untainted by partisan
interests.
Principle 7: Proactive Dissemination of Information
Public and private bodies must disseminate information proactively. Laws
providing for access to information must not be used as a shield to obstruct its
release.
Principle 8: Equality
All rights, including the rights here demanded like any other right, are equal
to all people regardless of any human or social characteristic including class,
race, gender, language or sexual orientation.
Principle 9: Community Involvement
The right to know is vital to the struggles of communities demanding political,
social, economic and environmental justice. Campaign efforts rooted in
communities and their needs are vital to the campaign’s success and the
realisation of a responsive and accountable democracy that can meet the basic
needs of our people.
Principle 10: Solidarity
The full realisation of the right to know cannot be defined by individuals,
organisations or borders. Our campaign is best served where we act in concert
and solidarity with like minded people and organisations locally and
internationally.”--
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