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Report on the 2004 Highway Africa Conference
Taurai Maduna, Kubatana.net
September 24, 2004

Kubatana.net was represented by at the 8^th 2004 Highway Africa Conference which was held at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa from 16 -18 September. The trip to the conference was made possible through sponsorship by the Heinrich Boll Foundation. The Heinrich Boll Foundation also sponsored a number of delegates from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Lesotho. This year's theme for what has become known as the grandest gathering of African Journalists was "Media making the information society". The main vision of this conference is to have a vibrant and growing network of African journalists empowered to advance democracy and development through their understanding and use of appropriate technologies.

Delegates who where being sponsored by the Heinrich Boll Foundation met on September 15 for a pre-conference workshop. This workshop was meant to introduce the various delegates to one another and discuss their conference expectations. There where daily briefings throughout the conference by the Heinrich Boll Foundation delegates who met and discussed what they had learnt from the conference and also recommend plenary sessions that could also benefit other delegates. Delegates had various expectations from the conference. These included networking with various journalists and organisations, get more information on Information Communication Technology (ICT) and also to get more information on the World Summit on the Information Summit (WSIS) which has two significant phases – the Geneva Summit (December 2003) and the Tunis Summit (November 2005).

A day before the conference, delegates where invited to a cocktail party which ended with the screening of a documentary film and discussion called "Carlos Cardoso - An Independent Spirit". Carlos Cardoso was one of Africa's greatest investigative journalist from Mozambique who was assassinated in November 2000. At the time of his death, Cardoso was investigating a multi-million dollar fraud committed by the Banco de Commercial Mozambique and many believe his investigation into the bank led to his assassination.

Over 300 delegates from across the continent where represented. This year's conference as the theme suggests "Media making the information society" was a great opportunity for people working in the media to discuss and implement the ever changing world of the media. Mkpe Abang a Nigerian journalist who is also the founder of the IT and Telecomm digest Magazine called on journalists not to be afraid of technology but to move with it.

The Highway Africa conference began with a plenary session entitled, Post-Geneva: An assessment of the outcomes of the Summit and the implications of the Summit and the implications for Africa. Mr Alain Modoux, President of ORBICOM: The International Network of UNESCO Chairs in Communication said, " freedom of expression in cyberspace was a much debated issue" during the Geneva Summit.

Mr Modoux further said; "Media organisations and freedom of expression advocacy groups were very worried about attempts by several totalitarian and authoritarian States to introduce into the WSIS Declaration a wording legitimising restrictions and limitations of freedom of expression in both traditional and new media." However after debates on the draft declaration which read:

"The existence of free and independent media should be in accordance with the legal system of every country"

After weeks of negotiations the hard-liners where convinced to withdraw their draft version and adopt one which read:

"We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of freedom of the press and freedom of information, as well as those of the independence, pluralism and diversity of media, which are essential to the Information Society. Freedom to seek, receive, impart and use information for the creation, accumulation and dissemination of knowledge are important to the Information Society."

The opening night of the Conference was the African Information Society Initiative AISI) Media awards, which where jointly held with the Highway Africa new Media Awards. The awards ceremony was held at the National Settlers Monument. The awards attracted over 250 entries from 30 countries across the continent. A total of 11 awards were presented to the winners during the opening night. The wards ceremony was broadcast live on SABC Africa and a special webcast on the Highway Africa website.

Some of the presentations covered during the conference included:

• Strategies on repositioning African media in a globalised world (convergence, market share, policies)
• Globalisations, security, internet governance and civil liberties
• Mobilisation of Civic Communities: The internet and the defence of fundamental rights.
• Nepad and ICTs in Africa: the development agenda and implications for democracy and good governance.
• African media: what does their audience deserve.

Alongside the plenary sessions and seminars that took place throughout the conference there where skills and knowledge building workshops that where conducted for the delegates. Kubatana was represented at 3 workshops, which include:

1. Radio in the service of society
   This workshop was a mix of theory and practical radio journalism skills. The workshop called upon journalists to report on issues that are relevant to the community and not just focus on filing stories which include ministers who say things that are not relevant to the community.
2. "Hen's Teeth, Horses' Toes" - This workshop was delivered by Rudy Nadler-Nir.The main objective of this workshop was to give writers and publishers which language they may use if they intend to "survive" in the ever-growing world of online publications. With so much content to read on-line one has to be careful on the language they use to get readers to read their work.
3. Secure Online Communications (SOC) - This workshop was very relevant to all those people who feel insecure about their online communications. It was interesting to learn about Hushmail, an easy to use online e-mail encryption facility.

An exciting feature at the conference was reading the daily conference newspaper called "Open Source". Open Source was also published online at the Highway Africa website. This year's newspaper was produced by more than 40 journalists in a virtual newsroom. The journalists would file their stories from any computer that had internet connection where the information will be stored on a web-based content management system. The newspaper was edited by Brian Garman a design lecturer at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University.

Those who where not able to attend the conference where not left out. There was a special Highway Africa radio broadcast, which was produce by Chris Kgadima, editor of the Simbani News Agency in collaboration with Rhodes Music Radio 89.7fm. The one-hour show was broadcast live between 10-11am from the Rhodes Music Radio studios and also webcast live on their website www.simbani.amarc.org and www.rmr.ru.ac.za. The daily show comprised of interviews with various speakers and delegates and the hottest music mix. The Simbani Africa News Agency is a project of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC Africa).

Apart from the plenary sessions and workshops, delegates had the opportunity to view some of the products on display by various organisations who include the SABC, AMARC, OSISA, MTN and Sentech which was exhibiting a product called My Wireless. My Wireless is a portable Broadband device which is a small modem 10cm tall by 8cm wide which allows somebody to connect to their computer via a USB or Ethernet port. The greatest advantage of My Wireless is that you do not need a telephone line. This device now makes it possible for journalists to file their stories from anywhere on the continent without using a telephone line.

This years conference was made possible by a number of sponsors who include the department of Journalism and Media studies at Rhodes University, Multichoice Africa, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), South Africa's Department of communications and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA).

The Highway Africa conference was a platform to network with various people from across the continent and share ideas. What was also interesting among the delegates was the interest to know much about what is happening in their respective countries. For me, the major question from other delegates was "why are you just seated and doing nothing to save the country".

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