Take your media project to the next level with the Jamlab Accelerator Programme

Are you working on something that you think could reshape media or journalism in Africa? Do you have skills you could apply to creating great new media? Do you have the energy and commitment to create something great?

Apply to join the Jamlab Accelerator Programme, our six-month hothouse for journalism and media innovators. The programme offers a unique opportunity to fast-track your initiative, providing you with the tools, facilities, contacts, and support necessary to convert your ideas and ambitions into a commercially viable venture or product.

Twenty-nine teams have taken part in six iterations of the programme, with six of them succeeding in securing additional investment immediately after the programme. The programme will run from June to November 2023.

Click here for details and find out how to apply.

Winners of the 2022 Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism announced

The 17th Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism took place on 21 April at Wits University, showcasing some of the best investigative reporting in South Africa during the 2022/23 period.  

This year we see the top honours shared between Ray Joseph of GroundUp News for his exemplary and persistent investigation into the South African Lottery scandal, and Jeff Wicks of News24 for his formiddable investigation into the assassination of whistleblower Babita Deokaran. Our runners-up are Aron Hyman, Graeme Hosken and Tankiso Makhetha from TimesLive for their riveting investigation into the zama zama turf wars taking place across western Johannesburg, Mogale City and beyond.

Read the judges' remarks in full here.

Call for applications: grants to investigate health issues

The Wits Centre for Journalism’s African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC) is offering grants to journalists to investigate health issues in seven African countries: Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa. The grants are supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The grants are intended to enable and encourage knowledge and awareness of health issues among journalists, to encourage the exposure of health issues and to give journalists the time and resources to do in-depth investigative reporting. Grants will range from $1 000 to $3 000, depending on the scope of the investigation, and the work must be completed within three months.

Click here for details on how to apply. 

Jamlab hosts webinar on the business of good news in South Africa

Jamlab Africa project coordinator Lindokuhle Nzuza was recently joined by Vickie Remoe, director and TV host for The Vickie Remoe Show, and South African broadcast journalist turned media entrepreneur Shahan Ramkissoon, co-founder of online multimedia news platform Feel SA, for an informative discussion on the business of good news in South Africa. 

“There’s a huge responsibility for accountability journalism in our country, which is absolutely necessary to protect our democracy, but there’s also a huge gap when it comes to telling positive stories,” said Ramkissoon.

Catch up with the full webinar here. 

Wits departments host screening of A Tree Has Fallen

The Wits Centre for Journalism, together with the Wits School of Arts, recently hosted a screening of moving documentary A Tree Has Fallen. The film, directed by journalist and former Africa correspondent, Marika Griehsel, tells the story of the remarkable Archbishop Desmond Tutu through the eyes of those closest to him. Tutu, a Nobel laureate who received an honorary doctorate from Wits University in 1993, died in 2021. 

The screening, which took place in the WSOA cinema on the Wits east campus, was supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria and the School of Literature, Languages and Media. Prof Mucha Musemwa, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, and Minister Counsellor Christian Fogelstroem of the Swedish Embassy, welcomed staff and students to the event. 

Register for upcoming SANEF seminar

The South African National Editors' Forum, together with Code for Africa and the Wits Centre for Journalism (WCJ), invite you to a seminar on how editorial policies can prevent media capture.

When: Friday 5 May, from 08:30 to 16:00.
Where: 12th floor conference room, University Corner building, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

RSVP by 4 May to [email protected]

Webinar on China’s Global Development Initiative and Africa’s Developmental Future

Over the last twenty years, China emerged as a key development partner to Africa. Via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China’s massive infrastructure-focused connectivity program, Chinese finance and contracting transformed skylines in many African cities. Now China is expanding its platforms for global cooperation via the Global Security Initiative (aimed at building security alliances outside of Western-led coalitions) and the Global Development Initiative (GDI).

Join the Africa-China Reporting Project, in collaboration with the Ford Foundation and the China-Global South Project, for a webinar featuring experts on Africa-China development cooperation to explore the broader implications of the GDI for Africa and the Global South.

Date: Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Time: 15:00 PM SAST / 9:00 AM EST

Click here for details.

• Entries have officially opened for the 2023 Standard Bank Sikuvile Awards, recognising and encouraging excellent journalistic work in South Africa. This year, the awards will be organised by the South African National Editors' Forum. Deadline: 25 May. Click here for details. 

• The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has announced the next series of its global journalism seminars. All seminars will be held on Wednesdays at 1pm UK time. Click here to see the full schedule. 

• Broad Media, which owns MyBroadband, Business Tech, and TopAuto, is looking for a journalism graduate to join its latest internship programme in Centurion. This is a paid position that runs for 3 months. Deadline: 12 June. Click here for details. 

• Eyewitness News is looking for a digital editor to join its team in Johannesburg. The successful applicant will lead the EWN online news team and develop strategies to increase audience engagement. Deadline: 16 June. Click here for details.