Local Conversations: Johannesburg 2009

IMAGES & VOICES GATHERING: Johannesburg - by Judy Rodgers

November 21, 2009

"We come from a society of fear. White South Africa feared being swamped by Black South Africa, and Black South Africa feared being jailed by White South Africa...but even in our darkest hour we believed that one day we would be free. We also had a sense of values: ‘I need to do this for the community.' This is what I would like to see us taking into the future, a sense of hope, a sense of community, the sense of holding hands and doing it as a community." This is what veteran journalist, Joe Thloloe said to the room of journalists who met in Johannesburg on Saturday, November 21st , as they opened an IVoH conversation. Joe, who was a Nieman Fellow in the class of '88, had covered the story of South Africa from 1961 to the present, spending time in jail off and on over those years.

Yvonne Kgame, director of the Content Hub for SABC, has been in our hearts since she came to the IVoH Summit in 2006 and picked up an Award for the entire body of her work. She shared some similar ideas to Joe's recalling times when she walked to school on cold winter mornings without shoes but with joy in her heart saying, "we knew one day we would be free." Several younger journalists who work for Yvonne in the SABC content hub were in the room, saying they came at the urging of "Ma Yvonne." She spoke about legacy: "We are called to take Africa to her moment of greatness...we cannot do everything, but what are the one or two things we can leave as a legacy? It all begins with us."

Veteran newspaperman, Ryland Fisher, also received an award from IVoH for his ten-part series at the Cape Times, "One City Many Voices." Now he is rolling out a network of free community newspapers around South Africa, using a funding model that gets corporate sponsors to receive shares in the paper, which they donate to public charities. At one point Ryland suggested that South Africans give too much credibility to mainstream media saying "We still have this thing: if it appeared in the Star, it must be true. If it didn't appear, it didn't happen."

The conversation ranged widely from the upcoming World Cup, to the lingering racism, to the stereotyping of young people. Before the final round of conversation, Sister Pratiba of the Brahma Kumaris led the group in a reflection after which they took up questions about the forces at work in South Africa at this time, and what they would most like to see in the year ahead. At the end of the afternoon they spoke about the need for community, saying that before '94 it was their longing for freedom that galvanized them into a community, but that since '94 the feeling of community has diminished. Jackie, a young SABC journalist who specializes in children's and young adults programming said, "those community spaces are not there. We need more deliberate community spaces. Without the community we don't have the stories...we don't know what real people are experiencing."

At the end of the afternoon, they talked about their hopes for the next year, and it was Joe Thloloe who said, "My vision for November 2010 is that we are back in this room and it is packed with journalists of all ages and levels of experience. Together we will talk about ethics and values in journalism."