Pretoria - Government has urged South African media to enter the 2014 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Media Awards, as media plays an important role in not only telling history but also in holding governments accountable.
The 2014 Media Awards were launched at the Government and Communication and Information System (GCIS) headquarters on Tuesday under the theme ‘Promoting regional integration through excellent journalism’.
“The media plays an important role in holding government accountable and bringing about transparency. But also importantly, the media plays an important role in recording history, which is why as the South African government, we encourage the South African media - both mainstream and community, and not forgetting upcoming journalists - not only to take part in the awards, but to join in narrating the history of SADC,” GCIS Deputy CEO: Intergovernmental Coordination and Stakeholder Management, Nebo Legoabe, said.
The awards aim to recognise excellence in journalism in the area of print, photo, television, radio as well as to encourage media practitioners in SADC member states to cover issues pertaining to the region.
The SADC Media Awards competition was established following a decision by the Council of Ministers in 1996 to establish a sector that deals with matters that relate to, amongst others, information, sport and culture.
Legoabe said the 2014 awards come at a time when the country celebrates a historic milestone of 20 years of freedom and democracy.
“These achievements would not have been attained if many African states in their formation did not contribute to emancipating South Africa against the apartheid system,” she said.
The launch today celebrates journalistic efforts to tell African stories of which many people are not aware of.
“While the South African media landscape [is] vastly different compared to other SADC states, we are continuously committed to fostering relations for the promotion of good stories about Africa and the region,” she said at the launch that was also attended by members of the National Adjudicating Committee (NAC).
NAC, which is made up of media practitioners selected last month, is responsible for adjudicating in member states for submission to the Regional Adjudication Committee (RAC).
Nomonde Gongxeka, who is SABC Group Public Affairs Manager, is the chairperson of NAC.
The South African government has supported the media awards since 2003.
Government’s support is informed by a series of considerations “not least of them our commitment to the unity and prosperity of the SADC region, as well as our commitment to the freedom of the press,” said Legoabe.
Said Gongxeka: “These are not ordinary awards. They are about national pride,” she said.
The closing date for entries is 31 March 2014, with the winners announced at the SADC summit of heads of state and government in August this year.
Journalists who wish to enter the competition can access more information about the competition, including competition rules, from the GCIS website: https://www.gcis.gov.za/content/newsroom/media-releases/media-advisories/sadcmediaawards-12feb2014. – SAnews.gov.za
