REPORTING THE COURTS WEBINAR SERIES SANEF in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism is hosting a series of webinars to accompany the relaunch of the Reporting the Courts manual.
The next instalment in the Reporting the Courts webinar series will take place on 27 January.
This session will include insights from:
Mthunzi Mhaga – Special advisor and spokesperson to the NPA
Yvonne van Niekerk – Director of court administration at the Office of the Chief Justice
Karyn Maughan – Legal journalist at Media24
Chrispin Phiri – Ministry of Justice spokesman
The session will be facilitated by Dianne Hawker and Dr Candice Bailey.
SANEF in partnership with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism will be hosting a series of webinars to accompany the relaunch of the Reporting the Courts manual.
Webinar 1 : UNDERSTANDING THE LEGAL SYSTEM AND THE RULE OF LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA
The South African National Editors Forum (SANEF) is celebrating 25 years of championing media freedom and will hold a Fundraising Dinner to mark this milestone on Friday 15 October 2021.
SANEF was born when two influential organisations united to build a formidable institution, instrumental in the protection of media and public’s right to know about the affairs of their country.
Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of disaster relief organisation, Gift of the Givers, will deliver the keynote address, speaking on: “The role and importance of independent journalism and active citizenry in a weak state.” Sooliman was this week deservedly crowned the Social Justice Champion of 2021.
SANEF will also use the event to commemorate 44 years since the tragic events of 19 October 1977, when scores of journalists and black consciousness leaders were detained and banned by the apartheid regime in a desperate attempt to stop them from exposing atrocities by an oppressive regime against the people of this country. October 19 is a constant reminder that our freedom was hard won, and many sacrificed their lives for a democratic South Africa.
Sbu Ngalwa, chairperson of SANEF, said: “Today, the work of fearless people like Percy Qoboza, Don Mattera, Mathatha Tsedu, Joe Tlholoe and Aggrey Klaaste, to name a few, continues to inspire us that there is more to do as we seek to safeguard hard earned freedoms like freedom of expression. We know of current challenges faced by journalists, not only locally, but the world over. We are driven to continue doing and acceding to the organisation’s founding principles.”
The fundraising dinner will also see the launch of a commemorative booklet, marking SANEF’s 25th – birthday – documenting the struggles, victories, and challenges ahead for defenders of our freedom.
As SANEF we are thankful to all those that continue to support the work SANEF does, anchored in Article 16 of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights that guarantees press freedom. We urge South Africans to continue being the first line of defence for our journalists and their work and underscoring that a free media is a critical tenet of a healthy democracy.
The birth of SANEF was as a result of a merger of two previously polarised groups – the Black Editors’ Forum (BEF) and the Conference of Editors (CoE). The BEF was motivated by strong black consciousness beliefs while the CoE was largely made up of white, male, middle-class English, and Afrikaans newspaper editors.
They did, however, share common ideals which included a free press and a commitment to ethical journalism and the development of journalists, amongst other principles.
After a rocky start with diametrically opposed views, there was a willingness in the BEF and COF ranks to make things work, and soon enough an agreement in principle was hammered out. This was based on the consensus shared by all editors that, no matter their background, that it was essential to form a single organisation. What followed was a celebratory founding event held in October 1996 at the Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town.
SANEF today is active in not only defending our hard-won press freedoms, but we also have extensive programmes to train journalists and promote high ethical standards in newsrooms.
As the country battles to recover from a devastating pandemic and rebuild the economy, SANEF has also focused on the sustainability of the industry.
The project began with raising funds to support journalists who lost their jobs because of lockdown regulations to help curb the spread of Covid-19. The Media Relief Fund supported by corporate South Africa and ordinary people was able to support close to 500 media workers.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics, and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
Thank you for attending the SANEF: Role of media during elections webinar.
Please find the dates to our next webinars below as well as resources and the recording links to our webinar held on Tuesday.
The training is part of SANEF’s ongoing capacity building and investment in democracy and governance reporting skills, to ensure that journalists provide the public with fair, balanced and accurate information to rely on when they prepare for voting day.
Webinar: Disinformation during the elections
– The shortcomings of the term ‘fake news’, and alternative terminology to be used;
– The different regional and regulatory responses to address disinformation, and the measures being implemented in South Africa to address disinformation online during the elections and during the COVID-19 pandemic;
– The standard of care required by the media and the importance of media credibility;
– Guidelines for countering disinformation: the important role of the media in publishing counter-narratives, fact‑checking and verification, and practical guidance for journalists. Register here
21 September 2021 | 10AM – 11.45PM
Webinar: Safety of journalists on and off line
– The types of threats, harassment, and attacks faced by the media — including gender-specific — and the obligations on the state and media organisations.
– The importance of the protection of sources, as recognised under our domestic case law.
– Practical guidance for journalists to protect themselves online, including on social media, and in reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
– Practical guidance for journalists on where they can seek assistance and recourse in the event of threats, harassment or attacks. Register here
Winners of the 23rd Nat Nakasa Journalism Awards, sponsored by SANLAM, were announced at a gala dinner at The Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre in Sophiatown on August 14. The flagship event of the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) awards journalists who have shown courage and tenacity in the face of enormous challenges and displayed a commitment to serving the people of SA with integrity, resisted censorship, and striven for truth and accuracy in their reporting.
The winner of the Nat Nakasa Award for 2021 is Styli Charalambous, the CEO and co-founder of Daily Maverick. Since its inception the publication has become one of the leading online and a printed publication in SA, in part because of the commitment and passion of the former chartered accountant. Styli says he is now “fully reformed and passionate about the media business”.
This year, the Nat Nakasa Award Community Media was made to Nathan Geffen and Raymond Joseph for their work in the community news agency GroundUp. Since 2018, this small community news agency has persisted with a series of investigations into the NLC that have uncovered corruption, maladministration, and nepotism. The news agency’s work in general — and its reporting on the lotteries scandal in particular— provides a sterling example of good community journalism in action. Editor Geffen started GroundUp ten years ago, as a donor-funded community news agency focusing on social justice issues.
The coveted Stephen Wrottesley Award went to Mahlatse Mahlase,chairperson of SANEF 2016 – 2020 and current secretary-general. The award was presented “for her passion, professionalism and commitment to SANEF and her dedication to media freedom and ethics.” Mahlase embodies what SANEF stands for: an unwavering passion for media freedom and a deep commitment to make South Africa a better and more equal place for its citizens, through journalism. Nominated by her peers, Mahlase steered SANEF to financial and organisational stability and has led SANEF in its principled campaign against prevailing hate speech and online abuse against journalists. She championed SANEF’s activism to push back against the abuse of particularly women journalists by politicians and online trolls.
In addition, SANEF recognises five community radio stations this year who have shown determination and bravery in serving their communities: Alex FM; Westside FM 98.9 MHz; Mams Radio; Intokozo FM and Kasie FM 97.1. The prizes were awarded from the SANEF Media Relief Fund. Click here for more info.
Winners of the 23rd Nat Nakasa Journalism Awards, sponsored by SANLAM, were announced at a gala dinner at The Trevor Huddleston Memorial Centre in Sophiatown on August 14. The flagship event of the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) awards journalists who have shown courage and tenacity in the face of enormous challenges and displayed a commitment to serving the people of SA with integrity, resisted censorship, and striven for truth and accuracy in their reporting.
The winner of the Nat Nakasa Award for 2021 is Styli Charalambous, the CEO and co-founder of Daily Maverick. Since its inception the publication has become one of the leading online and a printed publication in SA, in part because of the commitment and passion of the former chartered accountant. Styli says he is now “fully reformed and passionate about the media business”.
This year, the Nat Nakasa Award Community Media was made to Nathan Geffen and Raymond Joseph for their work in the community news agency GroundUp. Since 2018, this small community news agency has persisted with a series of investigations into the NLC that have uncovered corruption, maladministration, and nepotism. The news agency’s work in general — and its reporting on the lotteries scandal in particular— provides a sterling example of good community journalism in action. Editor Geffen started GroundUp ten years ago, as a donor-funded community news agency focusing on social justice issues.
The coveted Stephen Wrottesley Award went to Mahlatse Mahlase, chairperson of SANEF 2016 – 2020 and current secretary-general. The award was presented “for her passion, professionalism and commitment to SANEF and her dedication to media freedom and ethics.” Mahlase embodies what SANEF stands for: an unwavering passion for media freedom and a deep commitment to make South Africa a better and more equal place for its citizens, through journalism. Nominated by her peers, Mahlase steered SANEF to financial and organisational stability and has led SANEF in its principled campaign against prevailing hate speech and online abuse against journalists. She championed SANEF’s activism to push back against the abuse of particularly women journalists by politicians and online trolls.
In addition, SANEF recognises five community radio stations this year who have shown determination and bravery in serving their communities: Alex FM; Westside FM 98.9 MHz; Mams Radio; Intokozo FM and Kasie FM 97.1. The prizes were awarded from the SANEF Media Relief Fund.
The panel of judges for the awards represents different generations, value and respect each other’s opinions and have robust discussions around nominees:
Peter Sullivan, convenor of the panel since 2006, offered the following: “There are many instances of courage in journalism, both under apartheid and the current democracy. Journalists yearn to laud their own, to show we do a tough job, sometimes under severe threat, often unappreciated and even scorned. This award shows our audience and the country and our fellows that their courage does not go unseen.”
Commenting on the value of the awards, Crystal Orderson, who has been on the panel since 2018 and is known for The Africa Report on 702 Talk Radio, said: “It is important that we recognise differences in our media environment but also pay homage to Nat Nakasa and reflect on the role of the media in SA and making a difference in the media landscape, ensuring access to ordinary South Africans. Covid-19 has made immense challenges to the media, so we looked for those stand-out publications that really had major obstacles to overcome.”
Veteran journalist Joe Thloloe, a previous award winner, colleague of Nakasa’s and panellist since the inception of the award in 1998, recalled the moment he won: “When the MC at the SANEF dinner in Durban called my name, it was particularly moving for me, because nobody had even whispered the information to me ahead of the time; the weight of Nat’s one-way ticket out of South Africa to take up a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University in 1964 and his tragic death in exile hit me afresh; and, the award was modelled on the Louis Lyons Award at the Nieman Foundation…I shed tears when the announcement was made. At the time, the apartheid government had banned me, I couldn’t work for any publication and had been in jail a few times for my beliefs and was to continue that journey for another 12 years.”
Thloloe went on to elaborate: “We don’t look for just a competent journalist; we don’t look for technical excellence – we look for a media worker, a journalist, a publisher or media owner who has been courageous and fought against all that stood in his path to publish, keeping the flag of Section 16 of the country’s Constitution flying high.”
SANEF is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. The organisation is committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics, and diversity in the South African media. SANEF promotes excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research, education, and training programmes.
About Sanlam Group:
Sanlam is a pan-African financial services group listed on the Johannesburg, Namibian and A2X stock exchanges. Through its clusters: Life and Savings encompassing Retail Mass, Retail Affluent and Corporate business units; Sanlam Emerging Markets; Sanlam Investment Group; and Santam, the Group provides comprehensive and bespoke financial solutions to institutional clients and consumers across all market segments. Sanlam’s areas of expertise include life and general insurance, financial planning, retirement, investments, and wealth management.
Established in 1918 as a life insurance company, Sanlam has evolved into the largest non-banking financial services group in Africa through its diversification strategy.
Headquartered in South Africa, Sanlam has a direct stake in financial services entities in Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Mauritius, Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Nigeria. The Group has a footprint of insurance operations in Morocco, Angola, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana, Niger, Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Burundi, and Lesotho. Sanlam also has insurance business interests in India, Malaysia and the United Kingdom and has business interests in the USA, Australia, the Philippines, and Lebanon.
For further information on Sanlam, please visit: www.sanlam.com
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is disappointed by the failure of the Zimbabwean High Court to hand over the passport of renowned journalist Hopewell Chin’ono. Chin’ono was due to travel to Johannesburg where he was to deliver a keynote address at the Nat Nakasa Awards Gala dinner on Saturday 14 August 2021. Chin’ono was supposed to have travelled out of Harare today to attend the SANEF-organised awards.
The court was made aware that he was meant to depart from Harare on Friday, 13 August, on an 08:15am flight. His traveling itinerary was provided to the court. The same court had allowed Chin’ono to travel to Johannesburg on a separate matter last December and had released Chin’ono’s passport. But this time around he was told that his passport is being held as part of his bail conditions.
Chin’ono applied to the Court last week Friday, 6 August 2021, for his passport to be released. The court acknowledged the urgency of the matter when the application was made, but disappointingly, it is yet to make a ruling.
Any ruling now will be an academic exercise as Chin’ono will not be able to retrieve the passport, get a Covid-19 test done and then travel in time for the event. Chin’ono is not a flight risk as he has demonstrated before that he adheres to the conditions set by the court and has returned to Zimbabwe previously.
It is regrettable that Chin’ono continues to be a victim of the Zimbabwean government’s political persecution. Journalism is not a crime, and journalists should not be treated like common criminals for practicing their craft.
Chin’ono has spent eighty-five days in various Zimbabwean jails between 20 July 2020, and 27 January 2021 – all on the basis of trumped-up charges.
SANEF calls on the government of Zimbabwe to respect the constitutional rights of not only journalists, but all its citizens. We believe that there is no society that can thrive without a strong and an independent press, and no democratic society persecutes journalists.
We continue to call on the regional body, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to exert pressure on Zimbabwe to allow journalists to do their work without any fear of intimidation and persecution.
SANEF invited Chin’ono to highlight the difficult working conditions for journalists in the region and the continent. Nat Nakasa paid the ultimate price, dying in exile in 1965, after he was forced to desert his home country by the apartheid regime.
Fifty-six years later, there are still journalists on our continent who are being jailed, harassed, and even killed for reporting on the atrocities, the human rights abuses, and corruption in their countries.
We reiterate the call by regional body, the Southern African Editors Forum for SADC governments to abolish all draconian laws and align themselves with international standards. This will enable journalists to operate in a free environment without fear of their lives when doing their jobs.
SANEF will Go ahead with the awards ceremony, with Chin’ono delivering his speech virtually. To view the awards celebrating courageous journalism, please go here23rd Nat Nakasa Awards – YouTubeor on the SANEF Facebook page.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics, and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
The SANEF Reporting the Courts handbook, first published in 2006, has now undergone a complete update and will be available as an online, printable resource for all journalists.
To accompany the relaunch of the handbook in this updated form, SANEF is seeking bids from training providers to create five online training sessions to support users, which can be posted alongside the text on the SANEF website for access at any time.
Ideally, these resources should not be simply recorded, text-based lectures. Rather, SANEF is seeking imaginative proposals to create engaging, interactive sessions – for example, a live teaching session or panel discussion enhanced by interactive elements; a podcast or a short video/graphic presentation – which should be:
between 20-40 minutes each in duration.
contain interactive elements to foster learning; and
the focus should not be on teaching legalese, but on broader principles/topics (such as the rule of law, open justice, justice for minors, rehabilitation and more) that underly the working of the courts, to support and illuminate the detail available in the text.
Proposals should detail the content proposed for each session, the format envisaged, and a timeframe for producing all five sessions, as well as total cost with budget heads indicated.
Send your proposal in writing to Dzudzie Netshisaulu by email: [email protected]
DEADLINE: 22 August 2021
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics, and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
Covid-19 continues to wreak havoc across the media industry, with most media houses seeing financial losses, resulting in job losses, but pandemic has also claimed the lives of many journalists around the world. In response to this deadly virus, the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) has developed a guide, Reporting in a Pandemic, which includes Covid-19 and related strains.
In South Africa, by the end of last month, close to twenty journalists had passed away due to Covid-19 since the outbreak early last year.
By the end of last month, close to five hundred media workers had died in India due to Covid-19 related complications. Most of those that passed away contracted the virus while they were out in the field, doing their work as journalists.
The Press Emblem Campaign, a media group based in Switzerland, recently reported that more than two hundred media workers died in Brazil between March 2020 and the end of last month.
The Reporting in a Pandemic guide, produced collaboratively by SANEF in close partnership with Fray College and Internews, draws on experiences of many journalists infected and affected by the pandemic. The guide is curated to ensure that the media records the challenges and lessons learnt about the pandemic, for current and future referencing and prevention.
The public needs accurate reporting of the pandemic to bring home the continued need for responsible behaviour. The project noted that adherence to social distancing and other preventative measures is decreasing as citizens consider the threat to be waning, even as the third wave of infections hit provinces such as Gauteng, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
Sbu Ngalwa, SANEF’s Chairperson, said: “The document on guidelines for reporting the pandemics is released today just as the country is in the grip of a “third wave” of infections. While the government’s vaccination programme has received mixed reactions and, at times, criticised for being slow, SANEF believes the media needs to cover the process in a fair, accurate and balanced manner tackling disinformation, misinformation and myths surrounding the pandemic and the vaccines.
“As journalists, we should not lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with a deadly virus, and we should never drop our guards. We must always be conscious of the potential danger of contracting the virus in the field,” Mr Ngalwa said.
In a televised address to the nation on Sunday 12, July 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa expressed concerns on rising recorded daily infections that were reaching levels last seen in a second wave in January 2021.
“Additional restrictions are necessary… Our focus is on limiting social contacts while preserving the economy,” President Ramaphosa said.
SANEF started the project after noting that some internationally produced safety toolkits on handling the pandemic have not dealt directly and in-depth with the unique challenges of reporting in a South African context. The project reflects home-grown knowledge on how to report safely in the African context and taking into consideration the socio-economic dynamics of the country.
Accordingly, SANEF undertook a consultative process involving community and science journalists to develop a guide for reporting on this pandemic in line with the needs of South African reporters and society at large. As a result, the guide is aligned with scientific understanding and the needs of media practitioners. It was written by a team of credible and experienced writers and signed off by the SANEF’s Education and Training committee which has experienced editors and academics.
SANEF and its partners believe that the guide gives the media practitioners the needed technical know-how and understanding to accurately convey information about the pandemic.
We also believe that the guidelines will ensure that the newsrooms do not lose focus, maintain standards and the momentum for public adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
Note to Editors: The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists, and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics, and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
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