Comments on the proposal for a Pan-African Media Observatory

Highway Africa Chair of Media and the Information Society, Jane Duncan has just released some

Highway Africa Chair for Media & Information Society: Jane Duncan

comments on the proposal for a Pan-African Media Observatory set forth by the African Union Commission and the European Commission. Below are the comments.

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Highway Africa (HA) is a partnership between Rhodes University (School of Journalism and Media Studies) and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), with the support of several partners, development agencies and sponsors, promoting the use of appropriate technology by journalists. 2009 sees the 13th conference being hosted in Grahamstown with a record attendance of 735 persons in 2008 and offers journalists reflection on 2010 in the New Media environment. The Highway Africa annual Awards expand to over 5 categories in their ninth year, continuing to recognise excellence in ICT journalism in Africa. HA has established a Chair in Media and the Information Society, which is responsible for the encouragement of research, teaching on information society issues, management of the Highway Africa conference and advocacy work, particularly on media freedom issues.

1. Comments on proposals

HA does not intend to re-hash points that have already been made in other submissions; suffice to say that HA associates itself with the basic principles to guide media development in the African Forum for Media Development (AFMD) and Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) submission. We also associate ourselves with their comments on the project. Our position is informed by our view of what preconditions are required for an African information society, and these intrinsically include an environment that is conducive to media freedom and growth. Our view further focuses on the interconnection between the information and communication spheres of society, and therefore on telecoms/internet and media. Our specific comments are as follows: