The AU Media Fellowship programme is designed to provide a unique platform for African journalists and content producers to enhance their capacity to reframe the African narrative and ensure that stories about the continent are balanced and reflects the experiences of Africans in compelling and creative ways. As part of the fellowship programme study trip to South Africa, we organised a networking session with the Africa Regional Media Hub, this is part of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Public Affairs that works to connect U.S. policy makers and experts with media in Africa. The session took place on Friday, 2nd December, 2022.
The Deputy Director of the for the US Africa Regional Media, Tiffany Jackson-Zunker has reiterated the United States' commitment to working with African media to include and elevate African voices in the most consequential global conversations, said in her opening remarks.
Addressing the Media Fellows, Tiffany Jackson-Zunker said "The Africa Regional Media Hub was happy to host the AU Media Fellows last week. The role of the media in a democracy is critical and our hub's primary objective is to support journalists, specifically those on the African continent by providing resources on U.S.-Africa policy, opportunities to engage with U.S. officials, and responding to queries from media representatives, the journalists who work with us have more tools at their disposal to write the stories their audiences want and need".
The Deputy Director further explained that the AU Media Fellowship program is an excellent platform for African journalists to gain a continent-wide perspective on news creation, media operations, their role in reframing the African narrative, and the power of professional networking. The Africa Regional Media Hub is now a welcomed member of their larger network, and we remain a strong supporter of the African Union's efforts to bolster media professionals across the continent."
The tour provided an opportunity for the media fellows to gain further insights into US-Africa policy, particularly pertaining to its engagement with the media in Africa. The visit to the media hub comes after the AU Media fellows were hosted in Ethiopia by the U.S. Permanent Representative to the African Union Ambassador Jessica Lapenn.
Director for Information and Communication at the African Union Commission (AUC), Leslie Richer added that "the two organisations have a common goal of ensuring top-quality, balanced narrative on the continent, which will result in equally high-calibre reportage and for us, a crucial step towards achieving this is to provide the fellows with the capacity to deliver through such interactions and tours"
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The study tour to South Africa is the last in the series of study trips planned for the Media Fellows to interact with the various AU organs including the Pan-African Parliament, African Peer Review Mechanism, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Risk Capacity Group. The Fellows also visited Multichoice Africa, South Africa Broadcast Corporation and other public and private institutions in Africa that are at the forefront of curating compelling content for the continent.
Note to Editor
The AU Media Fellowship programme, is implemented the African Union (AU) through the Information and Communication directorate, supported by the Germany Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). Through the fellowship, the AU seeks to boost ownership of key policies and programs, and accelerate achievement of goals under its Agenda 2063, which center around delivering socio-economic and developmental changes on the continent.
