RADIO NEWS

Joburg Radio Days 2011

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:14

From 27 to 29 July, the Wits Radio Academy supported by the National Association of Broadcasters will host the second edition of Joburg Radio Days. The event will feature a packed programme of panel discussions, demonstrations, seminars and other events.

Themes will include: Talking about a radio revolution…; What’s the future of the medium in a converged world? Will radio adapt or die? How are leading commercial, public and community radio stations building the future now?

The programme features top-flight speakers from international broadcasters like the BBC and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, industry leaders in South Africa and elsewhere, regulators, foreign and local academics. The findings of a major, new Canadian-funded project on “Radio, Convergence and Development in Africa” will be released.

Programme topics

Radio and new media, particularly mobile;
Programming quality;
Prospects for Zimbabwe broadcasting reform;
Researchers from a major Canadian-funded project on Radio, Convergence and Development in Africa will release their findings;
Top-flight speakers from across the world, including academics, regulators, as well as leaders of public broadcasters,
successful companies and community stations;
A series of in-depth seminars, case studies and presentations focusing on ground-breaking stations and projects exploring the conference’s core themes.

The three-year research programme, Radio, Convergence and Development in Africa, administered by Carleton University's Centre for Media and Transitional Societies and funded by Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), supports research on how the purposes and functions of traditional radio in Africa are influenced by new information and communication technologies (ICTs) - notably mobile phones and the Internet. A total of 16 research projects across Africa have been funded through the programme and researchers will be reporting on their findings at Radio Days. The overall objective of the project has been to build a body of research evidence on radio and its integration with various other communications technologies in order to understand the social, economic, political and policy issues that are relevant indicators and proxies for development in Africa. But a key project aim was also to establish and foster a network of African researchers in this field and to not only disseminate their research findings, but to promote further research in this area.

Joburg Radio Days venue: Professional Development Hub, Wits campus, Braamfontein, Johannesburg

Registration fee: R3000, but an early bird rate of R2500 is available until July 1. Some bursaries will be made available to community radio stations.

Inquiries from +27 11 717 4083, Fax: +27 86 579 6532 or email radio@journalism.co.za

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