Pretoria – The community media sector will look into how they can deepen their role in keeping alive the legacy of the late President Nelson Mandela.
Representatives of the sector will meet at a community newspapers breakfast in Pretoria, which will be addressed by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi on Thursday.
The session is organised by the State Owned Entities Communications Association (SOECA) and the State Owned Entities Procurement Forum (SOEPF) in partnership with the Community Newspapers Initiative (CNI).
In honour of Madiba, Minister Muthambi said community print media houses should play a leading role of making South Africa a country at peace with itself by encouraging South Africans to protest peacefully and with dignity.
She said vibrant community media and small-scale, commercial media sectors are essential for transforming content and ownership patterns in South African media.
“Community media are the voice and chroniclers of daily life in many areas that are not reached by the big commercial media. Community newspapers and radio stations give a voice to marginalised communities and play an important role in the development of our communities,” the Minister said.
She said community newspapers allow members of a community to gain access to information, education and entertainment.
“In its purest sense, it is media in which the communities participate as planners, producers and performers and it is the means of expression of the community.
“We are urging you to play a vital role in development and democratisation by enabling the local communities to voice their own experiences and to critically examine issues, processes and policies affecting their lives, and educating and mobilising communities around development initiatives and strategies that will result in a better life for listeners,” she said.
The community newspapers breakfast will be held under the theme, ‘The impact of community newspapers in deepening democracy as well as strengthening the living legacy of Nelson Mandela’.
About SOECA and CNI
The SOECA, a structure of communicators from State owned entities across the three spheres of government, is mainly responsible for facilitating and improving the flow of information between SOEs and the public.
The CNI is an initiative of about 180 black-owned community newspaper publishers, with a countrywide print run of about five million every fortnight.
SOEPF is a forum of senior procurement specialists in SOEs, with a special focus on sharing best practices in supply chain management, spearheading good governance and providing support for the developmental agenda of the country. - SAnews.gov.za
