Establishment of National Adjudicating Committee for the SADC Media Awards in South Africa
The SADC Council of Ministers in 1996 approved a recommendation by the SADC Sector on Culture Information and Sport, to establish SADC Media Awards to honour and encourage excellent journalistic work in the region.
Written nominations are invited for persons to be appointed on the SADC Media Awards National Adjudicating Committee (NAC). The NAC will be responsible for screening South African entries for the Awards as well as making recommendations to the Regional (SADC) Adjudicating Committee. The NAC will be comprised of persons who:
- will promote human rights and press freedom
- are committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability
- when viewed collectively - possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields such as community media, photo-journalism, print journalism, television journalism, radio journalism
Nominations must contain:
- full name and address of the person/organisation making the nomination
- a signed acceptance of the nomination by the nominee
- a curriculum vitae providing at least the following information: Full name, ID number and gender, contact address, telephone and fax numbers, previous experience and organisations concerned, and academic qualifications.
Nominations must reach the CEO's office not later than 6 June 2003.
Mail to:
Government Communications and Information System
Private Bag X745
Pretoria
0001
Deliver to:
Government Communications and Information System
356 Vermeulen Street (cor Prinsloo and Vermeulen Streets)
Midtown Building
Pretoria
For more information contact:
Mxolisi Notshulwana 012 314 2123
Nkele Sebasa 012 314 2179
between 08:30 and 16:00 from Monday to Friday.
Rules of the competition
- SADC Media Awards will be held annually.
- The entries should have been published/broadcast between January and December of the preceding year by a recognized/registered media organisation.
- The themes of the entries to be submitted for the competition must be related to SADC activities in the region.
- Any journalist from SADC Members States can enter the competition as long as he/she performs his/her journalistic activity in the region.
- All works entering the competition should be in one of the SADC languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French.
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SADC Media Awards will comprise the following categories:
- Press: comprising features/articles published in newspapers and newsletters;
- Radio journalism: comprising broadcast material;
- Television journalism: comprising televised material
- Photojournalism: comprising published pictures in newspapers, magazines, with or without written texts.
Criteria for SADC Media Awards NAC nominations
Constitution and appointment of NAC members
- SADC Media Awards Task Team will be responsible for advertising as well as the screening and evaluation of the nominees
- Nominations will be done in a public, open and transparent manner
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The NAC will consist of nine members who will be appointed as follows:
- Four from Print journalism (including online), Photojournalism, Television and Radio journalism.
- One from Community media.
- One from academia.
- One from Journalist unions.
- Two from human rights and civil organisations dealing with issues of freedom of the press
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Persons appointed to the NAC must be persons who are:
- Committed to fairness, freedom of expression, openness and accountability
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When viewed collectively - the nominees should possess suitable qualifications, expertise and experience in the fields such as community media, photo-journalism, print journalism, television journalism, radio journalism, human rights and press freedom.
Briefing document on the SADC Media Awards and the establishment of the National Adjudication Committee in South Africa, 7 November 2002
Purpose
The objective of the briefing is two-fold: one to provide some background on the SADC Media Awards, and two: to provide a basis for discussion on how we should establish the National Adjudication Committee (NAC) in South Africa. The input and involvement of your institutions in the establishment of the NAC is not only critical in so far as the development and promotion of free expression and media freedom in the region but also how South Africa can continue to reflect upon its changing media landscape to provide for meaningful, open, deliberative and constructive interventions in the region.
Background
The meeting of the Council of Ministers held in Maseru, Lesotho, on 21 - 22 August 1996, approved the recommendation by the SADC Sector on Culture, Information and Sport that the SADC Media Awards be established to honour excellent journalistic work in the following areas:
- print journalism
- photo journalism
- television journalism
- radio journalism.
The principle objective of the SADC Sector on Culture, Information and Sport in establishing the SADC Media Awards is to encourage and promote the following values in the region:
- freedom of expression
- media freedom
- freedom of thought
- tolerance of divergent views and opinions
- participatory and deliberative democracy
- media development
- democracy, accountability and transparency
- support for the development integration programmes of the SADC.
The criteria and the rules for administering the SADC Media Awards assert that:
- the Awards be held annually
- entries should have been published in a year preceding that of the conferring of the Awards
- themes and activities of the entries should relate to SADC activities in the region
- entries should be in the SADC languages, i.e. English, Portuguese and French
- the National Adjudication Committee will screen and judge entries in the four categories
- the Regional Adjudication Committee will select the best regional works
- the National Adjudication Committee will be comprised of person from civil society, academic community, intellectual community, and media
- the Regional Adjudication Committee will be comprised of chair-persons of the National Adjudication Committees from all SADC member states.
South Africa's role
The GCIS has been tasked with the launching of the National Adjudication Committee of the SADC Media Awards. The government's position in the process is to facilitate the adjudication and nomination of the Awards as well as provide feedback to the Council of Ministers on the decision of the Regional Adjudication Committee.
On a broader political level, the principle position of the South African is to play a significant and meaningful role in the region to encourage as well as promote the democratic values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in the SADC Constitution as well as in the Constitutive Act of the Africa Union (AU).
Conclusion
One of the major challenges facing the SADC since its transformation from a co-ordination Conference to a Development Community has the establishment of an appropriate, vibrant and effective institutional framework and structures for executing its new mandate. It has become imperative for the organisation to review its objectives as well as its relation with other stakeholders such as the media. Based on the principles of SADC's Common Agenda the following is included to commence our discussion on the establishment of the South African NAC:
- the promotion and sustainable and equitable growth and socieconomic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with ultimate objective of eradication
- promotion of common political values, systems and other shared values which are transmitted through institutions which are democratic, legitimate and effective; and
- the consolidation and maintenance of democracy, peace and security.