HOLDING POLITICIANS ACCOUNTABLE: REPORTING ON THE 2009 ELECTION & BEYOND

You are invited to attend a free one-day seminar series on March 4 at Hackle Brooke, Johannesburg.

- Resurgent inter-party violence in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

- Political leaders turning the heat up with hate speech against their adversaries.

- South Africa’s huddled masses competing for scarce services, jobs and resources with millions of economic migrants and asylum-seekers.

- A fractured ruling party facing down the wild-card threat represented by an untested splinter movement.

- A news media shaken by job losses, threatened free speech curbs and the rise of virile new media and the tabloid press.

This is the face of South Africa as it enters the most hotly-contested poll since the coming of democracy in 1994.

In the interest of raising the tone and quality of the national elections debate, frayintermedia is presenting a dynamic day-long programme free of charge to journalists and editors. The programme offers participants the chance to cover as breaking news what some of the leading political, analytical and electoral role-players have to say about the election, to engage in debate with them – and to improve the quality of newsroom skills regarding electoral coverage.

• Drawing together some of the country’s leading political analysts, editors and party policy-makers such as Dr Frederick van Zyl Slabbert, Jovial Rantao, Smuts Ngonyama among others, the programme kicks off with a debate hosted by Prof Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Johannesburg, on today’s volatile social and political landscape.

• It then breaks up into a series of five tailored Seminars led by respected editors and electoral experts who examine key election coverage issues: how to cost the promises, how to generate and gender election story ideas, how to cover hate speech, how to manage elections logistics, and the legal ground-rules of electioneering.

• This unmissable day concludes with a two-hour Policy Debate – to be broadcast by SABC Radio – between the leading policy-makers from the ANC, COPE and other political parties discussing their attitudes towards migration in the shadow of the election.

Who should attend?

- Journalists reinventing their careers

- Journalists, line-editors and editors managing election coverage

- Journalists interested in the future of their profession

- Journalists wanting to cover what top politicians, editors and analysts have to say about the looming election

- Editors and news-editors managing change, and journalism trainers

When? 07:30-16:00, March 4. Lunch and teas provided.

Where? Hackle Brooke, corner of Jan Smuts Avenue & Conrad Drive, Craighall, Johannesburg

Space is limited, so book now! Contact Debby Kramer at frayintermedia on 011-341-0767 / dkramer@frayintermedia.com

Download a draft programme here.