Grahamstown, South Africa

Highway Africa is a partnership between Rhodes University School of Journalism and Media Studies and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), and is supported by several partners, development agencies, and sponsors.

The theme for this year is “Citizen Journalism, Journalism for Citizens”. The organisers state that “over the past few years the world has witnessed a surge in the use of new media - especially those based on the World Wide Web - by ordinary users across the globe. The emergence of social networking websites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and ubiquitous use of instant messaging technologies such as Skype, Yahoo, and MSN has marked the shift in the utility of the internet.”

The 2008 conference will seek to address a number of questions, related to the goals of journalism in society and how the ordinary citizen fits within those goals as a consumer and producer. These will include:

• What is Citizen Journalism?
• How does journalism serve citizens?
• What quality control exists in citizen journalism?
• What technology is driving citizen journalism?
• What are the African experiences of citizen journalism?
• How should "traditional" media respond to citizen journalism?
• What is the "business model" of citizen journalism?
• How is citizen journalism implicated in the democracy project?
• What should be the technical and journalistic skills of citizen journalists?
• What are the gender dynamics in citizen journalism and media ownership?
• What are the ethical issues arising from citizen journalism?
• Is there a case for "converged journalism" and multi-skilling of journalists in Africa?
• What is the role of free software and open source in supporting Africans to have a voice in cyberspace?
• Is mobile technology the future of journalism?

The conference will include formal presentations, keynote addresses, workshops, interviews, and practical examples, to explore the challenges of print, radio, television, online, and multimedia.

Click here for more information about the conference.

Click here for information on how to apply.

Applications should be submitted to Luthando Kiti at L.Kitit@ru.ac.za and copied to dirtyharry70@gmail.com