Johannesburg, South Africa

Gender Links (GL), in partnership with the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), will be holding the third Gender and Media (GEM) Summit under the theme “Whose News, Whose Views? Critical Citizens, Responsive Media”. The summit intends to bring together media practitioners, trainers, gender activists, and other stakeholders who subscribe to the GEMSA slogan “making every voice count, and counting that it does” to share best practices in creating a more responsive media.

This third GEM Summit aims to take stock of progress made since the first and second Gender and Media Summits, share best practices in gender and the media in Southern Africa and globally, and provide an opportunity for developing strategic partnerships. According to the organisers, the Summit will include key note addresses by international and local experts in the field of gender, media, and diversity, as well as parallel seminars on:

• media literacy - creating critical media consumers;
• community media – the role and potential for fostering critical citizens;
• consumer activism – alerts, complaints, media regulation;
• engaging with media consumers - audience surveys, direct engagement with consumers;
• policy and practise - are public mandates being fulfilled, participation in community radio;
• gender and media diversity - Gender and Media Diversity Centre, gender in media content;
• research and monitoring - the findings of the Gender Links tabloid and advertising research;
• media training - creating media literate students, internships; and
• media activism - I stories; digital stories.

The summit will also feature the third Gender and Media awards, and the Media Action Plan (MAP) HIV and AIDS and Gender awards for progressive institutional practice on promoting diversity in the work place and in media content.

Click here for more information about the Summit.

People interested in presenting best practice on any of the above-mentioned themes should fill in the application form and return it to knowledge@genderlinks.org.za by June 20 2008. Successful applicants will be informed accordingly.


International participants will be expected to fund their own costs to participate. Limited funding is available for other categories of experts and participants based on need and merit. Please fill in the application form on the website. Preference will be given to participants presenting best practices.