South Africa has a three tiered broadcasting system (community, commercial, & public) designed to ensure a diversity of interests are represented in the public debate. However, all three tiers are under intence commercial pressure to generate income by orientating their programming to 'market' interests.
What distinguishes community media from other types of media? What are examples of successful community media productions? What challenges face the production of meaningful community media? And what should be the role of other cvil society organizations in producing community media?
If you are in Cape town next week please join AIDC for a panel discussion on “Community media as alternative to public/commercial media” on Wednesday 24th February from 10h30 to 13h00 at Villa on the Beach, 7 Winkle Way, Sunset Beach.
Panelists include:
Pethu Ntaba, Radio Zebonele (tbc)
Brenda Leonard, Bush Radio
Martin Jansen, Workers World Media Productions
Tanja Bosch, UCT Media Studies
Please RSVP before Monday 22 Feb to Norma on 0214475770 or
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The Mindblast Festival of Film showcased some great international and South African alternative cinema, including films covering issues of communication activism. The Festival took place daily at the Popular Media Mindblast in Upington.
As part of the Popular Media Mindblast 2009's practical skill sessions Kurt Orderson and Kim Munsamy facilitated Guerilla Film encouraging Afrikans to use cinema to tell personal narratives and contest the ways in which their stories are told by Western filmmakers. Students learnt theory about Afrikan cinema, the representation of women in cinema and produced short films in the space of 4 days.
Here is a compilation of the films participants made:
This October marks the 50th Anniversary of the launch of the African Communist, the official journals of the SACP. When it was launched, it cover proclaimed “This magazine, the African Communist, has been started by a group of Marxist-Leninists in Africa, to defend and spread the inspiring and liberating ideas of Communism in our great Continent, and to apply the brilliant scientific method of Marxism to the solution of its problems. It is being produced in conditions of great difficulty and danger. Nevertheless we mean to go on publishing it, because we know that Africa needs Communist thought, as dry and thirsty soil needs rain.”
Communication Activist Network
This October marks the 50th Anniversary of the launch of the African Communist, the official journals of the SACP. When it was launched, it cover proclaimed “This magazine, the African Communist, has been started by a group of Marxist-Leninists in Africa, to defend and spread the inspiring and liberating ideas of Communism in our great Continent, and to apply the brilliant scientific method of Marxism to the solution of its problems. It is being produced in conditions of great difficulty and danger. Nevertheless we mean to go on publishing it, because we know that Africa needs Communist thought, as dry and thirsty soil needs rain.”
