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The Website proposes an overview of the NiZA activities in Southern Africa. In the media sector, including broadcasting, NiZA collaborates with regional and national organisations like AMARC, MISA, NCRF, JED and Union Nationale de la Presse in Dem. Rep. Congo (DRC); media training institutions and programmes like the Broadcasting Training Institute and the Institute for Advancement of Journalism in South Africa, the Malawi Institute of Journalism; and a few radios stations as Radio Bush (South Africa), Radio Ecclesia (Angola), Radio Pax (Mozambique), Radio Maendeleo (DR Congo). Two specific NiZA programmes presented in the web site deserve special consideration: 1. Technical Assistance: the main aim of this technical assistance programme is to increase and facilitate fruitful contacts between journalists and media in Southern Africa and their western counterparts. For instance, + for young students: * on-the-job training for Southern African students; they can apply for a scholarship through any of the partners. * on-the-job training for Dutch journalism students. NiZA has a limited fund for placement of Dutch students in media organisations in Southern Africa. + for young professionals * Traineeships. (3 - 12 months). The placement is not intended to fill an open vacancy at the partner organisation. The candidate gains work experience at a media organisation in southern Africa. Funding exists for travel costs, housing and a modest allowance. * Junior placement. (6 months to 3 years): this is similar to a 'regular' long-term placement. The candidate will be placed in the organisation and has a contract with the partner. However, the candidate should have a clear learning trajectory plotted out for the duration of the placement, and one of the staff-members will act as her/his supervisor. * Young professionals’ expert mission. (maximum of 3 months). 2. A second interesting programme is the "Hiphop - New Media" one: in 2000, Bush Radio in Cape Town started an information campaign on HIV/AIDS in its hiphop show entitled ‘Headwarmers’. It was a so successful initiative, that it has been the starting point for a series of exchanges between young hiphop artists from South Africa, the Netherlands and Tanzania. NiZA wholeheartedly supports initiatives such as Bush Radio's hiphop show and the exchanges. NiZA considers music and hiphop to be new media, which offer better ways to reach young people than the traditional media. Therefore, ‘hiphop’ has a special status within NiZA’s Media Programme. Training is one of the main pillars of NiZA’s Media Programme. In this field, NiZA supports some training initiatives and institutions, as well as some research like in 2001 a research among media training institutions in the region for assessing the gaps and needs: the report is available on the NiZA web site: "Media training needs assessment for Southern Africa", as PDF file (1,2 MB). The NiZA web site offers also a direct access to the MISA's annual publication, "So This Is Democracy?: State of media freedom in Southern Africa" in commemoration of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. This is the tenth consecutive year in which MISA has issued this publication which records incidents of media freedom violations monitored by MISA in 2003. MISA issued 188 alerts in 2003 about media freedom and freedom of expression violations in SADC countries. This is an decrease of 9,7 per cent over the 208 alerts recorded in the previous year. The countries monitored include Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. MISA is in the process of resuscitating its media freedom monitoring activities in Angola: in the menu "Programmes", select "Media" (date of publication: 28/04/2004, Size: 2,1 MB, as PDF). |
