The three-week intensive courses will be run as a pilot project with funding expected from DIFD, the British aid organisation. One of the leading ideas in this innovative programme is to take young journalists around the country covering conferences with websites and newspapers. This will form week 2 of the course.
The project comes out of a history of research and training in the emergent media, led by the Print Development Unit (PDU) at Print Media South Africa (PMSA). In 2002 the PDU published the findings of a two-year investigation of emergent black media, under the title "New Markets, New Readers, New Publishers". Recommendations included an urgent need to create an "Internet spine" for township and rural publishers, and with this in mind, the 2003 project will pay serious attention to developing computer and internet skills amongst young black journalists. Former University of North West Professor Graeme Addison, who also headed the Technikon Natal Department of Journalism and PR, will head the IT development initiative for Cross Media Training.
Sponsorship is being arranged through Telkom for a 24-hour satellite Internet dish, and there should also be a network of computers to run the project. Students will work under expert guidance to produce regular reports during the conference, with a visible presence at the conference venue and the pages being streamed to the world wide web for global users to see them.
Anyone interested in commissioning a conference site should contact Graeme Addison at . Although not free, the websites and publications will be done at cost, and those commissioning the site will be doing something for black empowerment. Tax breaks are possible, as the project is being registered through the training authority for the media industry, MAPPP-SETA, in terms of the National Qualifications Framework. Companies are also welcome to discuss their own web/journalism training needs for staff.
