Editors Note: Knight Fellow Sylvia Vollenhoven will co present a workshop on Development Journalism at Highway Africa conference. For 12 years, the Highway Africa conference has been at the center of Africa’s debates on journalism and new media. The conference has over the years become the largest annual gathering of African journalists in the world. This year Knight Fellow Sylvia Vollenhoven will co present a workshop on Development Journalism.
Next week hundreds of media people will converge on Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa for the 2009 Highway Africa gathering.
Highway Africa is a partnership between the Rhodes School of Journalism and Media Studies and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), with the support of several partners, development agencies and sponsors. This year is the 13th edition -- with a record attendance of 735 persons in 2008 -- and it offers journalists a reflection on 2010 in the New Media environment.
In collaboration with the Inter Press Service (IPS) Knight Fellow Sylvia Vollenhoven will present a workshop on Digital Storytelling in Development Journalism. It is a two-hour workshop on Tuesday September 8th at 2,30 pm.
The theme of this year’s HA conference will be "2010, Development & Democracy". In 2010, South Africa hosts the FIFA World Football Cup. As we head for the world’s biggest spectacle, taking place in Africa for the very first time, it is imperative that African journalism and media prepare on how the 2010 Story will be told. The Highway Africa Conference 2009 will be both a celebration and an interrogation of journalism and media and their role in sport, identity and the African agenda.
The working theme of the concurrent Digital Citizen Indaba (DCI) will be ‘digital civil society and journalism in Africa’, focusing on the complex interaction between the mainstream media and civil society.
In the last five years Highway Africa has evolved into a multi-pronged programme with the following components:
Research: mapping the terrain of the challenges of the interface of technology, journalism and the media
Education and Training: responding to the gaps identified in the research this project makes a practical intervention by re-skilling, upskilling, educating and training journalists.
News Agency: a niche news agency with a network of correspondents across the continent it offers weekly news digest on ICT developments in Africa
Conference: the flagship of the programme, it is the forum for critical reflection on journalism, media and technology and a celebration of Africa