South Africa is currently standing on a cross-road, facing a number of critical challenges. With stories like State Capture, Guptagate, the Pravin Gordhan saga and mismanagement in the country’s State Owned Enterprises and the Fees Must Fall protests, it has become more critical for the public to be informed and educated about what goes on behind the scenes in current events. Corruption, immoral and illegal practices need to be exposed and skeletons need to be unearthed.
To help journalists gain the much-needed tools to do their job efficiently, without fear or favour, the Wits School of Journalism is hosting the 2016 African Investigative Journalism Conference (previously the Wits Journalism Power Reporting Conference) on November 7 to 9. Designed to provide working journalists of all experience levels with practical, useful tools to use in their day-to-day duties, the Conference will deal with issues like practical safety in dangerous situations, helpful tools to follow the money and weaving your way through social media to link the dots, and share experiences with highly experienced journalists from all over the world on how to run investigations from scratch to publishing.
Learn how to Bullet-proof your story legally, by well-known South African media law specialist, Dario Milo, get tips from Cheryl W Thompson from The Washington Post on the ABC’s of a hard-hitting investigation; get a crash course on how to follow the money from John Christensen of the Tax Justice Network and journalist George Turner of Finance Uncovered on uncovering illicit finance; and join a one hour practical workshop on how to protect yourself when covering demonstrations, riots and public unrest by security specialist Jorge Luis Sierra.
The Wits African Investigative Journalism Conference has been running as the Power Reporting Conference successfully for twelve years, delivering practical investigative skills to South African and African journalists to assist them in doing their duties more efficiently. This year, as the role of investigative journalists in this country is growing in importance, it will continue to serve as a base to pick up, or touch up on your skills. The conference is open to journalists of all seniority and skills levels, and, as every story is an investigation, will benefit journalists in tackling any beat – not just hard-core investigations.
The conference will culminate in the annual Carlos Cordoso Memorial Lecture, focusing on media freedom, where Burundian radio journalist, Bob Rugurika, will deliver his message, ‘If we give up, this world will deteriorate’.
Register now, to ensure participation.
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