Understanding the heart of good media (Anton Harber)

 

On 5 September 2017 Anton Harber*, Adjunct Professor of Journalism at the University of the Witwatersrand, paid a visit to Bush Radio.

As part of his visit we asked him to speak with the interns as part of our staff development sessions.

He shared his thoughts on a range of issues ranging from what makes a good story to fake news.

Anyone interested in journalism and the media should take a listen.

This is an audio recording of that discussion.

*Anton Harber is Adjunct Professor of Journalism. His research interests include journalism; media; and history of South African media. Harber is the Founding Editor of the Mail & Guardian newspaper (previously known as the Weekly Mail). Previously, he also worked as Sub-Editor for the Sunday Post and Sowetan newspapers and as Political Reporter for the Rand Daily Mail. Between 1997 and 2001, Harber was the CEO of Kagiso Broadcasting and between 1998 and 2001, he was the Executive Director of Kagiso Media Ltd. Harber has held a number of other positions such as Chair of the South African Conference of Editors (in 1991), Chair of the National Association of Broadcasters (in 1998) and Chair of the Freedom of Expression Institute (in 2010).  – source: University of the Witwatersrand

African TV Journalists on the Move

Bush Radio in partnership with the Deutsche Welle Akademie is currently (18 – 28 July 2011) holding a training workshop at the Bush Radio training facilities to a selected group of talented television journalists, camera operators and technicians from several television stations in Africa. The workshop aims to enable African journalists to “tell their stories” by producing professional TV reports and documentaries, and consequently offering their audiences an African perspective on relevant issues such as environmental protection, economic development, poverty reduction, health, education and good governance.

There are a diverse number of objectives that the workshop aims to achieve, including the improvement of the individuals skills as well as the promotion of African perspectives on social, economic and developmental issues. Trainers, Thomas Rehermann, Robert Donauer, Florian Kroker and Jan Bruck are doing their very best to ensure that the best training is being provided to the participants.

In the first stage the participants are divided up into teams consisting of a journalist, one camera operator and one picture editor. These teams are then given tasks and at the end of the workshop they are requested to produce at least one broadcast-quality report.

The workshop also aims to enhance reporting abilities, including, story selection, research, production organisation, camera work, the basic principles of editing, storytelling and writing for television.

Stages two and three are even more exciting than stage one. In stage two the team who produces the best report in stage one is identified, and then invited to develop these reports in co-operation with editors and technicians from Deutsche Welle-TV. Deutsche Welle will then distribute the reports through various channels to an international audience.

Stage three then allows the top 20 participants the opportunity to visit Germany. During this period, they will exchange views with decision-makers and opinion leaders, in order for authentic African perspectives on international issues to be discussed. This visit will also give participants the chance to learn more about German and European opinions about current issues.

The excitement of the participants is apparent at Bush Radio. Siraaj Larney from Cape Town TV said, “I have truly enjoyed the training thus far. It has broadened my knowledge and it has helped me build my confidence.”

Another participant, Anna Nicodemus from Namibia said, “I have been a journalist for quite some time, and I thought I knew all the tricks to journalism, up until this training. I will definitely be taking back a great wealth of knowledge with me. I hope that I will make it to Germany.”

Pennipher Sikainda from Muvi TV in Zambia said that the course has been excellent thus far, especially because it has been focusing on the training of TV production. She also said that the theme of the course “Africa On The Move” is wonderful since they have seen few stories depicting growth both socially and economically. She said that the lectures are fantastic, because they are sharing great tips that she could use to meet international broadcasting standards.

Richard Khoviwa from Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, said, “I have learnt many things with regard to editing and production. This is indeed useful to me because I deal with technical issues on a regular basis at my company.”

Related posts:

Local journalists get world-class TV training

Lights, Camera, Action

Covering all your media training needs

Making every minute count – #madiba67

Bush Radio staff and interns devoted their 67 minutes of work for Mandela Day to St Anne’s Homes on Monday the 18th July 2011. The team spent the morning face painting, story-telling and playing. The children also received soup (kindly donated by Cyrildene Fisher) and party packets at the end of the morning.

The team enjoyed themselves, and have signed on to to arrange even more of these activities in future.

Related posts: Lending a helping hand

All pictures: A.Louw