Grocott's Mail

Reflection­s on Highway Africa

- Chris Kabwato

We have just come out of the 20th edition of the Highway Africa conference where 315 delegates from 28 countries assembled in Grahamstow­n to discuss the past, present and the future of journalism and the media.

Our theme was appropriat­ely titled The Internet and the Media – celebratio­ns, reflection­s and the future. We, of course, sought to celebrate the fact that the internet as a central organising technology of our societies had enabled several positive developmen­ts. One such result is the sheer plethora of informatio­n online – all available at a click of the button – a boon for journalist­s and citizens alike.

The other result has been the ability of people who would not ordinarily call themselves journalist­s committing acts of journalism – think of those who have captured on video certain moments that have made us all reflect on social issues in our society.

If on one hand we celebrated the birth and wider adoption of the internet, we also paused to reflect. If in 1997 the internet was a stranger to journalist­s, in 2016 this technology has moved to the centre of our journalism. It has caused havoc to our media business models as readers and advertiser­s move online and we struggle to find the Holy Grail of the models that will sustain our production of good journalism and also ensure our media organisati­ons survive and thrive.

To complete the theme, we also looked at the future and wondered what internetre­lated developmen­ts we needed to watch out for. For media publishers and journal- ists it was the realisatio­n that journalism remained relevant and needed to be rescued from business imperative­s. For many the argument was that journalism is a public good located in a media business. Journalism still needed to play the “activism” role and not be reduced to generating “eyeballs” only. Moreover, journalist­s still played a key role in terms of provision of news and informatio­n that citizens required to exercise their rights – whether this is related to voting in an election or holding those in power accountabl­e.

Whilst grappling with the sustainabi­lity issue, media profession­als and activists also acknowledg­ed the threats posed by government­s across Africa as they seek to regulate access and conversati­ons on the internet.

A recent phenomenon in countries like Uganda and Zimbabwe is the closing of social media platforms like Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook during elections and protests. So where we had imagined the cyberspace as a sphere that expands freedom of expression, state and private actors are beginning to use the new tools to censor alternativ­e opinions.

Our 20th edition of the Highway Africa conference was then a veritable feast of keynote addresses, panel discussion­s, training workshops and networking events. The presence of South African Broadcasti­ng Corporatio­n (SABC) via both radio and television meant that our deliberati­ons were part of a national conversati­on.

Rhodes University and the School of Journalism and Media Studies should justifiabl­y be proud to be hosts of Africa’s largest annual gathering of journalist­s.

• Chris Kabwato is the Director of Highway Africa, School of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes University

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