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South Africa: Challenging Media Views of Country
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
20 May 2008
Posted to the web 20 May 2008
Khanyi Magubane
Johannesburg
International media perceptions of South Africa, and their effect on the country's economic development, will come under the spotlight at the second International Media Forum South Africa (IMFSA), taking place in Johannesburg on Wednesday and Thursday.
The forum will bring together senior editors from the world's most important media, as well as South Africa's leading business decision-makers, government officials and communication professionals, reports Southafrica.info.
Held at the Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg, the conference will address challenges in communicating what South Africa has to offer the international investor community. Participants will discuss ways of building international confidence in order to attract foreign direct investment. The forum will also be a platform for critical dialogue between those who shape South Africa's image abroad, and South Africans who can change their future for the better by the way they communicate the country's news.
The International Marketing Council of South Africa (IMC) is a major partner in the event. Others include Business Unity South Africa, the Public Relations Institute of South Africa, and media partners Business Day, Financial Mail, Summit TV and Kaya FM.
Close to a thousand delegates attended the first forum in 2006, with representatives from the international media including the BBC, CNN, CBNC Europe, Al-Jazeera International, The Wall Street Journal and Time Magazine. This year, the programme has been stepped up to include a number of high profile speakers. They include The Economist Deputy Editor Emma Duncan, Financial Times Africa Editor William Wallis, Hindustan Times of India Foreign Editor Amit Baruah, and New York Times Africa correspondent Celia Dugger, who will deliver keynote addresses.
Professor Anton Harber, head of the University of the Witwatersrand's School of Journalism and Media Studies, will chair one of the most important sessions at the conference. Simply entitled "The Big Debate", this will centre on the common perception that international coverage South Africa is generally negative.
Presiding over the forum will be veteran journalist and Kaya FM radio presenter John Perlman. "The role of the chairman is to ensure that the debate is as productive as is possible and that as many people as possible get to have their opinions heard," says Perlman.
"Nobody is always right, and no one always wrong. It's all about the quality of the debate." Conferences of this nature, he says, are crucial. "I think this will help foreign journalists to have a deeper understanding of South Africa. While you don't change people's minds in one conversation, you certainly need one good conversation to start a debate of that nature.
"Every country has many different layers, and it's important that foreign media understand that. "As long as we all engage in the right spirit, we will have a fruitful discussion. But if you arrive at the conference with the attitude that your opinion will triumph, then you are not going to get much of out of it." One of the issues that will top the agenda is coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The question will be, how can both government and business media relations be improved to use the event to promote the future economic development of South Africa in the run-up to the tournament?
Mike de Vries, Chief Executive of Germany Land of Ideas, will share the lessons he learnt from managing the task of changing perceptions of Germany for the 2006 World Cup.
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Themba Maseko, CEO of Government Communication and Information System in South Africa, will also deliver a paper on the view from the government, outlining the priorities for government communication and its relationship with the international media.
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