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The African Media initiative announces the election of a new Board Chair
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ZIMEO EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA AWARDS ARE NOW OPEN
ZIMEO EXCELLENCE IN MEDIA AWARDS
ARE NOW OPEN
Call for Entries for the Second Edition
Nairobi, 5th August 2016 – The African Media Initiative is pleased to invite applications for the Second Edition of the Zimeo Excellence in Media Awards. The contest is open to professional journalists in Africa reporting or writing for print, radio, TV and digital and will recognize journalism excellence in the following categories:
1. Gender/Women’s rights
2. The youth agenda
3. Maritime economy
4. Business and finance
5. Science and Technology
6. Agriculture and food security
7. Health
8. Education
9. Peace and security
10. Energy & infrastructure
11. Extractive industries
12. Media and digital journalism
13. Conservation and climate change
14. African Union Agenda 2063
15. Sustainable Development Goals Reporting
Interested journalists are encouraged to present either single stories/articles or thematic packages in the following languages, English, French, Portuguese, Arabic and Kiswahili.
What are the Judges looking for?
Our pan African panel of judges will be looking for entries which:
• Demonstrate a high quality of reporting/writing in terms of originality, depth, rigour, research, investigative enterprise, innovativeness, clarity, proper sourcing, fairness, accuracy, exhaustive analysis of the context and background and an above average understanding of the subject matter.
• Are data-driven and use creative digital tools like mapping, crowdsourcing and visualization to help tell the story.
• Communicate the topic in a way that makes the story relevant and engaging to audiences and that contains evidence of its likely social impact or benefit to society.
• Provide, where possible, a pan-African perspective.
• Are multi-sourced.
• Were broadcast or published between July 2015 and July 2016. Proof of this will be required.
Detailed descriptions of the various categories can be found here:
The deadline for submission of entries is Thursday, 15th September 2016, atmidnight and the winning entries will be awarded during a Reporting Africa conference to be convened in Nairobi, Kenya, in November this year.
Applications or other materials sent by post, hand or fax will be rejected. All submissions must be in an electronic format. Contestants must download and fill in the entry form and send it via email with their updated CV attached to zimeoawards@
For print, please include the PDF scan(s) of the published article. The text of the article must be legible. Maximum file size: 5 MB – Allowed format: PDF only.
For radio – please upload the file onto SoundCloud and provide the URL link on the entry form.
For digital, please include a working website link (URL) on the entry form
For TV material, please upload the video on YouTube and provide the URL link on the entry form.
For any queries, please contact:
Justus Machio
Media Outreach Officer
African Media Initiative
jmachio@
About AMI
AMI is an umbrella organisation that brings media owners together and seeks to find solutions to perennial problems facing the industry such as the lack of financing and solid business models, as well as difficulties in accessing the advertising market or even just good Internet connectivity. The organisation also aims to spur better journalism through various training programmes, including in data and development journalism.
Focus on Africa Development Week 2016
Carlos Lopes: Rooting for blue economy
Addis Ababa, April 2016 – At the African Development Week held in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the issues for discussion included action plans to achieve regional integration, industrialization, migration and financing for development, the green economy, the problem of measuring corruption in Africa, and restoration of the African Peer Review Mechanism.
Highlights of Economic Commission for Africa’s initiatives
- Launch of Regional Integration in Africa VII and Africa Regional Integration Index to ensure the continent has “clear fact-based benchmarks and standards to assess its overall progress, and simultaneously provide a mechanism for comparing performance and learning from each other”.
- Launch of Africa’s Blue Economy Policy Handbook, described as a tool to equip Africa harness “The New Frontier of African Renaissance”. Highlighting the importance of the blue economy, ECA’s Executive Secretary Carlos Lopes pointed out that,“Freshwater and ocean fish make a vital contribution to the food and nutritional security of over 200 million Africans.”
- Launch of Economic Report on Africa.
Source: Communication Section, ECA, Addis Ababa
A development agenda for the media
Eric Chinje, CEO African Media Initiative
AMI supports social media ethics code
April, 2016 — The African Media Initiative has asked to be listed as a supporter of a Social Newsgathering Code of Ethics launched on April 1, 2016, by the Online News Association.
The code, described by its sponsors as “a set of best practices that cover everything from verification to rights issues to the health and safety of sources — and of journalists themselves”, has attracted support from a variety of international media such as AFP, BBC, CNN, Eurovision News Exchange, Eyewitness Media Hub, First Draft, Reported.ly, Storyful, The Guardian, Verification Junkie, Ethical Journalism Network, Fresco News, and Verifeye Media.
At the launch, ONA’s board member and chair of its News Ethics Committee, Eric Carvin, said: “We’re constantly reminded of the need for best practices such as these. The recent bombings in Brussels, Ankara, Lahore and Yemen, among others, provided yet another stark and tragic reminder of how information and imagery spread, in a matter of moments, from the scene of an unexpected news event to screens around the world.”
He added: “Moments like these challenge us, as journalists, to tell a fast-moving story in a way that’s informative, detailed and accurate. These days, a big part of that job involves wading through a roiling sea of digital content and making sense out of what we surface.”
Welcoming the code, Eric Chinje, AMI’s chief executive officer, said the pan-African body had not hesitation in supporting the initiative, which, “in a very resounding way, buttresses our own efforts to strengthen the ethical basis of journalism”. He urged news organizations that care for entrenchment of professional standards to support the code and promote its application in their particular jurisdictions.
The code lays out the following practices:
- Endeavoring to verify the authenticity of user-generated content before publishing or distributing it, holding it to standards that are equal or equivalent to those maintained for content acquired through other means.
- Being transparent with the audience about the verification status of UGC.
- Considering the the emotional state and safety of contributors.
- Considering the risk inherent in asking a contributor to produce and deliver UGC, including whether it incentivizes others to take unnecessary risks.
- Considering technical measures to ensure anonymity of sources when required.
- Seeking informed consent for the use of UGC through direct communication with the individual who created it.
- Being transparent about how content will be used and distributed to other platforms.
- Giving due credit to the owner of the content providing that consideration has been given to potential consequences, including their physical, mental and reputational well-being.
- Endeavoring to inform and equip journalists to confront the dangers of engaging with sources through social media networks and the digital footprint they leave behind.
- Supporting and assisting journalists who are confronted with graphic or otherwise disturbing content. Maintaining an organizational culture that enables journalists to seek help or speak out when they need to protect their mental health. (Source:socialnewsgathering@journalists.org)
About AMI
AMI is an umbrella organisation that brings media owners together and seeks to find solutions to perennial problems facing the industry such as the lack of financing and solid business models, as well as difficulties in accessing the advertising market or even just good Internet connectivity. The organisation also aims to spur better journalism through various training programmes, including in data, basic science, and development journalism.
AMI holds Uganda Digital Migration Workshop
The migration from analogue to digital terrestrial television broadcasting whose global deadline was set for 17th June 2015 is yet to fully take place in Africa. Nine months past this deadline, Mauritius, Tanzania and Kenya are the only African countries that have completely switched off analogue television service to date. As the global deadline has long passed, a number of countries are still facing significant challenges. In support of efforts by media outlets to switch to digital broadcasting, The African Media Initiative (AMI) organized a workshop in Uganda targeting media owners and operators, policy makers, regulatory body officials and other stakeholders.
The two-day training workshop was held at the Office of the Prime Minister Conference Hall in Kampala, Uganda, on 16-17 March 2016. The workshop focused on key factors that should be considered in developing and implementing a country’s Digital Television Transition Plan, including pre- and post-transition technical issues, policy considerations, spectrum management decisions and consumer awareness. Participants interacted with and learnt from experts drawn from countries that have already completed the transition and can speak to the lessons learned from those experiences. Delegates at the workshop called on governments to waive taxes on free to air decoders and other equipment needed for the digital migration.
The workshop was sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa.
Looking to journalists’ safety
Unesco’s Jaco du Toit moderating a discussion on Journalists’ Safety Indicators.
Over the past year, the African Media Initiative has been examining the media environment in Kenya to assess the level of journalists’ safety against a set of specific indicators. The study, commissioned by Unesco, involved data collection from key media stakeholders such as media, state and political actors, civil society organizations and academia, the UN and other international organizations.
The indicators – Journalists’ Safety Indicators – are an initiative of Unesco and are designed as a tool to measure progress in efforts to implement the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.
As Unesco says in its guidelines, Applying UNESCO’s Journalists’ Safety Indicators (JSIs) A Practical Guidebook to Assist Researchers (published on 11 February, 2015), “The purpose of the JSI indicators is to pinpoint significant matters that show, or impact upon, the safety of journalists and the issue of impunity. ” The indicators “especially serve as a basis against which changes can be systematically registered over time’’, the guidelines add.
The Guidebook goes on to explain that the JSIs cover “a variety of actions, including: monitoring safety issues (information collection), promoting norms on safety (which includes the publishing of information, amongst other steps), co-ordination with other actors, training and capacity-building programmes, as well as other activities”.
On February 23, Unesco convened a stakeholders’ validation workshop at the United Nations office at Gigiri in Nairobi. It brought together a cross-section of representative groups – Kenya Union of Journalists, Kenya Correspondents Association, Association of Freelance Journalists, National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders (K), Kenya Human Rights Commission, African Media Initiative, Twaweza Communications, Association of Bloggers, Article 19, Association of Parliamentary Journalists and the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. State actors had also been invited but did not attend.
The lead researcher, Dr George Nyabuga, of the School of Journalism, University of Nairobi, presented the research findings with Unesco’s Jaco du Toit moderating the discussions. Feedback from the stakeholders will help refine the report in preparation for its launch on May 3, 2016, as part of activities to mark the World Press Freedom Day.
Application Open for Tomorrow’s News Programme
Credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation
Deadline for applications: 2nd May 2016
Digital media has revolutionised news. But many news organisations – whether in developing or developed countries – are still grappling with what it will mean to them, and how to get the most out of it.
If this sounds familiar, then the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s brand new programme Tomorrow’s News has been designed for you.
Tomorrow’s News is a programme for media outlets in developing countries or countries in political transition that are committed to high quality journalism, and that want to produce strong digital content that increases their reach and impact – but which are uncertain what kind of content will work best, and how to produce it on a tight budget.
The programme will draw on the latest knowledge on media trends from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, together with media skills from Thomson Reuters and media innovations from across the world, to offer guidance on:
- Finding out what audiences want and building a strategy around this
- Producing appropriate digital content using a range of technologies, including smart phones
- Packaging and distributing content as effectively as possible
Tomorrow’s News will be tailored to the needs and contexts of the outlets with which it works. The programme does not claim to have all the answers – and it does not suggest that the best guidance comes from western media. The challenges faced by media in low- and middle-income countries are many, varied, and frequently distinct from those that face media elsewhere.
Instead, Tomorrow’s News will share best practice and innovations, and seek to build a community of media outlets from across the world that want to go cross platform and make it count.
How it works
We would like to hear from news professionals who represent their media outlet and who can influence their colleagues. These individuals will become the key contact point for their news organisation.
The programme will then offer:
- Intensive workshops on strategising and producing cross platform content (taking place in different locations in June/July 2016)
- In-house trainings or consultancies tailor made for newsrooms, plus ongoing guidance and support where needed
- Opportunities to take part in other training events and seminars, addressing key areas identified by participating newsrooms themselves
- Updates on the latest knowledge on media trends and convergence
The programme will provide experts from both developing and developed countries to deliver workshops and consultancies. We aim to ensure everything we deliver is relevant to the news outlets taking part.
Eligibility
Individuals may apply for Tomorrow’s News on behalf of their news organisation.
You might be an editor, senior journalist, head of training, or a different role – but whatever the case, you must have influence in your news organisation and the ability to share knowledge and change practice among colleagues.
If you are not in charge of the newsroom yourself, please supply a letter signed by the person who makes decisions about overall newsroom policy – such as the editor, managing editor, or equivalent – consenting to your participation.
Criteria for news organisations:
- Must be producing independent journalism
- Must be based in a developing country or country in political transition
- Can be working in any medium – print, radio, TV, online, or a combination of these. (News outlets which primarily exist online are welcome to apply; they will be able to explore how they use that space, and even consider whether non-digital media could be of use)
- Can be large, small or anywhere in between
- A news outlet’s coverage may focus on one specific area (such as business or politics) or may have a general news focus
How to apply
Click here to access the application form.
You may need to prepare a letter consenting to your participation before you apply (see details above). You will be able to upload this if applicable.
Registration Form for AMI Digital Migration Workshop For UGANDA 16th – 17th March 2016 Kampala, Uganda
Experts assess the way ahead for China
Ahead of China’s annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, China’s national english newspaper China Daily interviewed academics, diplomats and executives from multinational companies, including AMI CEO Eric Chinje, on their opinions, ideas and predictions. To read insights from Eric and others interviewed, you can view the full article on the China Daily : Experts assess the way ahead for China
Reporting on Elections in Africa: An Online Workshop for Journalists
There are numerous elections set to take place in Africa in 2016. The media will play a critical role in this democratic process before, during and after the polls close. Election reporting in Africa is challenging. Journalists face a host of obstacles, ranging from restrictions on press freedom to difficulties reporting from locations where there is limited polling or voting outcome data.
The virtual workshop will introduce journalists in the region to best practices in election reporting as well as the opportunity to interact with international journalists experienced in election coverage in Africa and beyond.
Workshop speakers will introduce and reinforce professional standards in the many aspects of reporting on elections and address the importance an impartial media and its relationship with both the government and the general public during the electoral process. The workshop will address:
- Election processes
- Covering campaigns (i.e., analyzing content of candidates’ electoral programs/speeches, polling information, candidates’ debate coverage)
- Journalists’ rights to information during an election
- The difference between journalists and election observers
- How to prepare a coverage plan
- Personal safety during election coverage
- Post-election reporting
The speakers are experienced journalists who are familiar with the challenges of reporting on elections on the continent (bios below).
WORKSHOP DATES
English workshop: Tuesday, February 16 from 13:30- 15:00 GMT
Introduction: Eric Chinje, CEO, African Media Initiative
Moderator: Jerelyn Eddings, Senior Program Director ICFJ, Knight International Journalism Fellowships
Speaker: Judy Yablonky, Media Consultant and Journalism Trainer
French workshop: Wednesday, February 17 from 15:00- 16:30 GMT
Introduction: Eric Chinje, CEO, African Media Initiative
Moderator: Eduardo Cue, International Journalist and Media Consultant
Speaker: Daniel Glick, co-founder of The Story Group, an independent, multimedia journalism company.
WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE IN THE WORKSHOPS
Reporters, editors, producers, bloggers and anyone reporting or writing about elections in their country.
RSVP
RSVP to afmediahub@state.gov and indicate the requested date/language. We will then send you the online link for the workshop. Please submit RSVPs at least 24 hours prior to the start of program.
Moderators & Speakers bios
English
Jerri Eddings is a senior program director with the International Center for Journalists, whose Knight International Journalism Fellowships are empowering journalists in sub-Saharan Africa to use the latest digital tools to tell compelling stories on health and development issues. Ms. Eddings has extensive experience in the United States and Africa as a reporter, editor, television producer and director of media capacity building programs. She served as managing editor of Africa programming for Howard University Television (WHUT), a PBS station in Washington, DC (2002-04). She also served as director of the Freedom Forum’s Africa media center in Johannesburg, South Africa (1997-2002). In addition, she served as the Atlanta bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report (1994-97). Prior to that, she worked as a foreign correspondent for the Baltimore Sun and then U.S. News, covering the final years of apartheid and South Africa’s first democratic elections.
Judy Yablonky is an international journalist and media consultant with more than 35 years’ experience in international media. She started her international career in 1977 as a foreign correspondent covering southern Africa for the Associated Press from Johannesburg. Since 1991, she has specialized in seminars and media training programs for over 2,000 professional journalists and politicians in 30-plus countries in Africa, as well as in Eastern Europe and Nepal. She has worked with a dozen different international organizations as a trainer, including: The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), the Soros Foundation, the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, the International Alliance for Justice, and le Centre pour les Journalistes et les Communicateurs (CAPJC). She also has taught courses at universities in Moldova and South Africa. She is fluent in French and lives near Paris.
French
Eduardo Cue is a high-level communications officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, serving in New York and Africa (Mali and South Sudan) and has worked as an international journalist at leading broadcast and print news organizations for over 20 years (CNN, AP, UPI, US World News and Report, France24, Televisa and The Times). Cue has over 20 years’ experience as a media trainer, leading journalism seminars in more than 30 African countries for university students and professional journalists. These included teaching basic journalistic practice, journalism ethics, the role of the media in emerging democracies, and the relationship between the media and the military, as well as speaking frequently before civil society groups and local politicians on the continent.
Daniel Glick is the co-founder of The Story Group, an independent, multimedia journalism company formed in 2009, and based in Colorado. He is a journalist with 25 years of magazine writing experience, including 13 years with Newsweek and as a freelance contributor. He has written for National Geographic, Rolling Stone, The New York Times Magazine, theWashington Post Magazine and more. He has developed and conducted numerous journalism training programs, including during the time he was a Knight International Press Fellow in Algiers (2006), and a 2011 program in Gabon.