May 19, 2012

Posts Comments

You are here: Home / 2008 / Archives for August 2008

Soul City signs with frayintermedia

August 30, 2008 By 1 Comment
soul-city

frayintermedia is set to leverage media across the country to speak to all South Africans – across race, gender and age – in an effort to get the country talking about multiple and concurrent partners and the effect of this on the HIV/Aids pandemic.

Appointed to handle media advocacy for the Soul City Institute on its Onelove campaign, intermedia will engage with media in order to shift public opinion and behaviour around multiple and concurrent exual partners.

Said frayintermedia Managing Director Charmeela Bhagowat: “This is a great venture for frayintermedia. We are most pleased that Soul City have partnered with us and we look forward to getting started on this essential programme for the health and wellbeing of the citizens of this country.”

Soul City, who have reached more than 16 million South Africans through drama and entertainment, are set to launch their Onelove campaign in the coming months. This campaign will see nine other African countries join hands with South Africa in an effort to reach as many people on the continent as possible.
The campaign is aimed at encouraging dialogue on multiple and concurrent partners. “This is about getting South Africa talking about HIV, about our culture and our future,” said Bhagowat.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka recently told delegates at the XVII International Aids Conference in Mexico she favoured such mass media campaigns as South Africa needed a variety of people sending the same message.

Mlambo-Ngcuka said Government could be more frank and direct about the dangers of multiple and concurrent sexual partners – one of the key drivers of the epidemic in the southern African region.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,

Shaping the African media landscape in 2008

August 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment

frayintermedia is not just shaping the media landscape in South Africa but also in Africa.

This follows the awarding of the second phase of the The Agriculture, Rural Development and Women (IWMF) project to the company.

A four-year initiative to work with news media organisations in Africa to enhance the coverage of agriculture, rural development and women on the continent, will see frayintermedia travelling to countries such as Mali, Uganda and Zambia to identify and train media trainers while also establishing centres of excellence.

“The main objective of the project is to incorporate women’s roles, stories, needs and solutions in the coverage of agriculture and rural economies whilst developing gender equality in newsrooms,” said Michae Schmidt, frayintermedia Civil Society Outreach Manager.

frayintermedia were responsible for the first phase of the project which was concluded earlier this year.

Filed Under: african media, Training Tagged With: , , ,

Opinion does not include discrimination

August 28, 2008 By Leave a Comment
insight

The media has no right to discriminate and remove dignity from its subjects, even if the Constitution does ensure them the right to an opinion.

This was the conclusion of the sixth frayintermedia Mail&Guardian Journalism Dialogues that took place in Cape Town in August.

Taking its cue from Jon Qwelane’s controversial opinion piece on homosexuality the Journalism Dialogues under the topic: When does free speech in the media become hate speech thrashed out the do’s and don’ts of opinion pieces.

Whilst panelist Brendan Boyle, Business Times Associate Editor, said the media had the right to an opinion, panelist Dr. Yvette Abrahams, Commissioner with the Commission on Gender Equality, said she was shocked by some of these opinions expressed in South African media.

Boyle’s perspective on the issue of media license and freedom of the media to print opinion was that journalists had the right to an opinion – enshrined in the Constitution He noted, however, that certain comments often existed merely to sell newspapers and gain a reaction from the public.

Facilitator of the Dialogues, Press Ombudsman Joe Thloloe, said whilst this was true, journalists did not have the right to be discriminatory as was the case in the Qwelane piece.

According to Thloloe, Qwelane’s comments were in breech of the Journalism Code of Conduct.

Thloloe said that the piece was seen to discriminate against homosexuals and that it removed dignity from that preferred sexual orientation. The right to opinion did not allow for this.

Dr. Abrahams said she was often shocked by the South African media – not just by the opinions expressed, but also in the very chauvinistic way in which reporting was taking place in the country more than a decade after democracy had been declared.

She said that according to research, only 7% of sources quoted in newspapers were female and that the media was largely to blame for the public notion that women were not equal to men.

Vanessa Ludwig, Director of the Triangle Project and also a panelist, agreed with Abrahams that the media had significant strides to make in terms of fair reportage.

“You’ve got to examine the medium used to create conversation. It does not always work to just throw in a statement and let havoc reign,” she said in reference to Qwelane’s comments that homosexuals were abnormal to society.

Dr. Abrahams said it was important for the media to remember that whilst it did have a duty to report the truth, that dignity should be upheld as well.

Tabloid newspapers were heavily criticised for removing dignity from the subjects in the articles printed.

There was a comment from the audience that daily and weekly newspapers could also be found to be lacking in awarding dignity to the subjects written about.

Said Dr. Abrahams: “Why is it that we read about the young black lesbian, who was raped in Khayalitsha?”

Her comment questioned the media’s unequal focus of attention on homosexuals.

Her recommendation was for renewed commitment from the media to ensure they were not being gender biased in their reportage.

In conclusion Ludwig said that she wanted to see more editors controlling the ways in which journalists were allowed to get away with blatant stereotypes and unfair comment.

Filed Under: Insight, Journalism Dialogues

Tips for junior journalists

August 27, 2008 By 1 Comment
  1. Firstly, decide on exactly what you want your story to say or to prove, a central hypothesis.This is a clearly-worded statement that neatly sums up the angle of your story and it is an important first step in your planning because it is the heart of what you will pitch to your news editor – and they will probably decide, on the strength of that pitch, whether you get to do the story or not. Also, it keeps you focused while chasing the story.
  2. Next, on a single sheet of paper, sketch a map of all the sources you could possibly approach who could shed light on your story angle, and who might have an interest in commenting on it after you have done your interviews. Decide who is unnecessary, cross them out, and then decide on what is the best logical order to follow in conducting your interviews. Hit Google and the phone book to find contact numbers, or ask your seniors.
  3. Decide before you go out on your interviews where you might need documentation, pictures or graphics to back up your story. Make early arrangements with photographers and graphic artists to work with you.
  4. When you do your interviews, always look out for: a) the big picture, that turns a local story into a national story, b) the freshest, newest angle that is ahead of anything else you have read on the topic, a new trend or new report etc, and c) all the colour and the telling detail that make your stories come to life.
  5. Be aware that your treasured story angle may be forced to change – either because your idea was incorrect or because you come across a much better angle. Be prepared to change your focus, but only when necessary.
  6. Ensure you handle all your sources with honesty and respect, no matter whether they are high-born or poor, good guys or bad. Be as accurate as possible and document every step of your story: it’s your best possible defence against people who want to sue as well as grumpy news editors who want you to prove that you’ve covered all the possible angles.
Filed Under: tipsheets, Training Tagged With: ,

Finding your newsroom feet

August 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Hitting the newsroom running was the aim of two days of intensive training at the offices of Independent Newspapers in Cape Town.

Junior reporters spent two days with frayintermedia’s Michael Schmidt learning the tricks of the trade.

“This training is aimed at helping journalists who have just started out to find their feet in the newsroom. It enables interns and junior reporters to focus themselves in the newsroom by giving them organisational skills as well as basic writing tools and practical solutions to problems,” said Schmidt.

“The first day of the training is all about being an ‘organised reporter’. Time management is essential for a reporter – and teaching this to reporters entering the newsroom is very important. The course helps to identify how journalists can use ‘down time’ to their advantage.”

Schmidt said often young journalists were overwhelmed when they found themselves in a panic as deadlines loomed, but having the skill to work at a steady pace, to plan ahead and to be able to focus ensured better reporting.
“It is important to instill good work-plan ethics in young journalists who are just starting out. Not only does it stand them in good stead in years to come, but it also helps to focus the mind when tackling stories – regardless of how simple or complex,” he said.

The second day of training focussed more on writing skills. “This part of the course primarily deals with how to properly plan a story, how to map all your sources, decide on the best sequence of conducting your interviews and gathering photographs and documents and how to ensure the story flows logically,” said Schmidt.

“This is all about giving new journalists the right tools to focus on the job. It is about being able to hit the newsroom running with very clear ideas on how to tackle stories, how to break them down into logical parts and how to put them back together again in a tight, readable format that their news editors just cannot resist.”

Find tips for junior journalists here.

Filed Under: Training Tagged With:

Science Conference on track

August 27, 2008 By Leave a Comment

Equipping journalists with effective reporting skills on science will be the focus of frayintermedia’s second Reporting Science Conference.

Themed Making Science Headlines this year’s conference will focus on climate change, alternative energy sources, food security and nanotechnology.

Said organiser Debby Kramer: “Science stories seemingly go untold because of a shortage of well informed and trained science journalists. This conference aims to change that by empowering science reporters with knowledge by giving them access to some of South Africa’s elite scientists both locally and abroad – it is about giving reporters the opportunity to make science headlines.”

Taking place on 10 and 11 November at the Hacklebrooke Estate in Johannesburg, the conference offers reporters the unique opportunity to network with scientists and experts on a variety of topics, whilst improving their skills.

Also on the agenda this year is a trip to a local observatory where the night sky will be viewed.

For more information on the conference contact Debby Kramer on 011 – 341 0767 or on dkramer@frayintermedia.com

Filed Under: science conference Tagged With: ,