Pretoria - Media transformation will take centre stage at the upcoming two-day Media Transformation, Accountability and Diversity Colloquium, which will be hosted by Communications Minister Faith Muthambi next week.
The colloquium will start on Thursday, August 25 at the Freedom Park in Pretoria.
The conference aims to bring together a broad range of stakeholders that will contribute to a meaningful debate on media transformation, accountability and diversity priorities in the country.
Various stakeholders ranging from NGOs, government departments, advocacy forums, media houses, academia, civil society and other key role players are set to attend.
During her Budget Vote Speech earlier this year, Minister Muthambi indicated that print media transformation is her department’s flagship project for the 2016/17 financial year. She said there was a huge disconnect between the expectations of both government and media on what exactly the role of the media should be.
“Media transformation will … be made to address not only print media ownership but also the ownership of printing press, the measurement of circulation, distribution channels and the assessment of regulatory instruments to regulate the affairs of media practitioners,” said Minister Muthambi during her Budget Vote Speech.
The Minister’s view is that South Africa needs a diverse media industry that truly reflects the “rainbow nation” - from ownership and control to the newsroom.
She said this is to ensure that media freedom is enjoyed by all citizens, irrespective of their racial group and gender across the country, including those in the deep rural areas so that they too can have the opportunity to not only consume media, but produce and own media.
After the dawn of democracy in 1994, transforming the white-owned media industry was the cornerstone of the new South African government. The idea was to de-racialise the industry through increasing black ownership and control as well as its role in support of development.
All the media houses were expected to contribute to the transformation of the country by building social cohesion and promoting values of a caring society.
“We take stock of the transformation that has occurred in this industry to ensure that the ownership of these influential media assets reflects our diversity.
“Untransformed media is unable to comprehensively demonstrate the plurality of voices in our societies – diversity in content,” said Minister Muthambi. - SAnews.gov.za
