NAIROBI and GRAHAMSTOWN – Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership, the convener of the Africa Media Leadership Conference (AMLC) in the past nine years, has teamed up with the African Media Initiative (AMI) to strengthen their common goals of working to create sustainable, diverse and pluralistic African media.
The two organisations also seek to provide a range of platforms and learning initiatives so that African media become “learning institutions which continuously seek to improve their performance to audiences and markets by providing high quality and ethical management and management systems and editorial and advertising content”, AMI and the SPI announced today.
They will work to create and promote “greater collaboration among African media” and with other news organisations across the world that share their vision and goals. They will also collaborate on a range of programmes, including media management and leadership research and training.
The SPI, the only university-level institution in Africa and the developing world offering high level editorial and business management training programmes, has hosted the annual, pan-African AMLC in the past nine years, providing a critical platform to African media leaders to network and discuss key common challenges facing their companies at a time of rapid change brought by digital channels
such as the internet, mobile phones and social media networks. For nine successful years, the AMLC has been funded and organized in close partnership between SPI and KAS Media Africa, the sub- Saharan media programme of the German Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
AMI seeks to strengthen the media, from an owner and operator perspective, so that the media can play its full role in promoting social development, economic growth and in empowering citizens to hold governments and other institutions to account. Since 2008, AMI has organised every year the African Media Leaders’ Forum (AMLF), the largest gathering of African media owners and operators, to discuss and seek practical solutions to issues of common concern among themselves. Earlier this
year, KAS Media Africa and AMI announced a strategic partnership beginning with the hosting of a joint annual media conference on the African continent later this year -under the banner of the African Media Leaders Forum (AMLF).
“Given that both the AMLC and the AMLF were focusing on similar issues, it made better sense that both organisations joined hands, strengthened their reach and impact and leveraged on their combined economies of scope and scale,” SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa said.
“We at the SPI are delighted to see the birth of this common-sense partnership, which will make it possible for Africa to speak with one voice on common issues.”
AMI Chief Executive Officer Amadou Mahtar Ba said: AMI is delighted to enter into this partnership with a leading learning African institution. The media community on the continent at large and African media owners and operators in particular will directly benefit from this new endeavour. In a context marked by serious challenges to the media industry worldwide, AMI and the SPI will work together to help African media leaders to seize the real opportunities in this digital age.”
The joint efforts of AMI, SPI and KAS media Africa mean that from this year onwards there will only be one pan-African media leadership conference, which will be hosted under the aegis of the AMLF.
This year’s summit will be held in the Tunisian capital Tunis on 10 and 11 November.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
Formative Target Audience Research: A Case Study of Five Community Radio Stations in SA
This 138-page research document, published by the Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership, shares experiences and lessons in community radio listenership research, challenges and successes as a way of allowing other community radio stations to learn from these efforts. The report includes a literature review of research conducted on the subject of community radio in South Africa, results of a survey undertaken with radio stations and focus groups with stakeholders, as well as five case studies of community radios. According to the publishers, insights from audience research processes can be used for marketing purposes to advertisers and for making informed programming decisions.
The study found that few stations participating in the survey had ever conducted their own audience research, or had accessibly written audience research available to them. Few stations had taken initiative to use other accessible sources of information to gain insight into the issues facing their communities. Some stations had conducted research around health programming, had used community mapping, or have accessed government demographic or statistical information.
The report includes the results of in-depth research with five radio stations, which uncovered challenges and successes related to three key areas: management, programme content, and listener interaction. According to the study, programme managers have multifaceted roles which extend beyond their role of managing and developing content, and include ensuring that capacity building of presenters also takes place. Managers were concerned with lack of commitment from volunteers stemming from a lack of basic stipends or very low stipends. Few stations had a structured process for selecting presenters and volunteers; they also often lost presenters to higher paying commercial and public broadcasters.
The study found that most presenters are selected from ordinary community members with little or no radio training or from students doing internships; thus the station is responsible for providing training. Some stations rely on knowledge sharing between colleagues, others turn to training opportunities offered by other organisations. At one radio station, Bush Radio, training is a core aspect of the station's activities, and trainees are formally trained and mentored.
Programme content and structure varies widely across different stations, although presenters generally develop their own programmes, select topics, conduct background research, and deliver the packaged content during their time slot. The study found that presenters who spent time preparing had less difficulty on-air, and presenters who work with producers also seem to deliver well-structured programmes.
The research also found that some programme slots are bought by local government departments and the private sector. The problem with government content is that some radio stations are unable to get local departments to respond to questions about service delivery. Presenters do not open their lines for calls from the public, or listeners are advised to stick to the topic when calling during programmes with local government guests. Similarly local businesses whose service is poor or questionable refuse to be interviewed by station staff on their business practices. This can result in self-censorship, as presenters do not want the station to lose advertising.
According to the report, presenters find obtaining fresh ideas for their programmes, especially those relevant to locals, as a challenge. In terms of sources for news and programme content, research and community participation is important to understand community networks and enable presenters and journalists to identify relevant sources.
In terms of audience interaction, all five radio stations visited mentioned the lack of resources to conduct research and community participation forums. However, some have set up simple feedback mechanisms. Some methods used to obtain feedback are SMS, telephone, suggestion boxes, bluetooth, social networking systems including Facebook or Word of Mouth Forum, and on-air programmes. Direct community participation methods include outside broadcasts and in the case of one station, a small research survey.
As stated in the report, some key activities are taking place to counter some of these challenges. These include partnerships and exchanges with other radio stations to facilitate capacity building, cut costs, and access news that would otherwise be difficult to come by; and using new technologies - for example Bush Radio broadcasts off an iPod linked to their transmitters when they experience power failures.
Author: Johanna Mavhungu, Cathy O’Shea
Contact Information:
Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (SPI) Rhodes University P O Box 94 Grahamstown South Africa Tel: +27 (46) 603 8851Fax: +27 (46) 622 9591
SPI website spiml.co.za
The study found that few stations participating in the survey had ever conducted their own audience research, or had accessibly written audience research available to them. Few stations had taken initiative to use other accessible sources of information to gain insight into the issues facing their communities. Some stations had conducted research around health programming, had used community mapping, or have accessed government demographic or statistical information.
The report includes the results of in-depth research with five radio stations, which uncovered challenges and successes related to three key areas: management, programme content, and listener interaction. According to the study, programme managers have multifaceted roles which extend beyond their role of managing and developing content, and include ensuring that capacity building of presenters also takes place. Managers were concerned with lack of commitment from volunteers stemming from a lack of basic stipends or very low stipends. Few stations had a structured process for selecting presenters and volunteers; they also often lost presenters to higher paying commercial and public broadcasters.
The study found that most presenters are selected from ordinary community members with little or no radio training or from students doing internships; thus the station is responsible for providing training. Some stations rely on knowledge sharing between colleagues, others turn to training opportunities offered by other organisations. At one radio station, Bush Radio, training is a core aspect of the station's activities, and trainees are formally trained and mentored.
Programme content and structure varies widely across different stations, although presenters generally develop their own programmes, select topics, conduct background research, and deliver the packaged content during their time slot. The study found that presenters who spent time preparing had less difficulty on-air, and presenters who work with producers also seem to deliver well-structured programmes.
The research also found that some programme slots are bought by local government departments and the private sector. The problem with government content is that some radio stations are unable to get local departments to respond to questions about service delivery. Presenters do not open their lines for calls from the public, or listeners are advised to stick to the topic when calling during programmes with local government guests. Similarly local businesses whose service is poor or questionable refuse to be interviewed by station staff on their business practices. This can result in self-censorship, as presenters do not want the station to lose advertising.
According to the report, presenters find obtaining fresh ideas for their programmes, especially those relevant to locals, as a challenge. In terms of sources for news and programme content, research and community participation is important to understand community networks and enable presenters and journalists to identify relevant sources.
In terms of audience interaction, all five radio stations visited mentioned the lack of resources to conduct research and community participation forums. However, some have set up simple feedback mechanisms. Some methods used to obtain feedback are SMS, telephone, suggestion boxes, bluetooth, social networking systems including Facebook or Word of Mouth Forum, and on-air programmes. Direct community participation methods include outside broadcasts and in the case of one station, a small research survey.
As stated in the report, some key activities are taking place to counter some of these challenges. These include partnerships and exchanges with other radio stations to facilitate capacity building, cut costs, and access news that would otherwise be difficult to come by; and using new technologies - for example Bush Radio broadcasts off an iPod linked to their transmitters when they experience power failures.
Author: Johanna Mavhungu, Cathy O’Shea
Contact Information:
Sol Plaatje Institute for Media Leadership (SPI) Rhodes University P O Box 94 Grahamstown South Africa Tel: +27 (46) 603 8851Fax: +27 (46) 622 9591
SPI website spiml.co.za
Friday, July 22, 2011
Rhodes’ SPI goes to the Seychelles
By Howard Thomas
VICTORIA, Seychelles -- Seychelles was the scene of ground-breaking media management training in July by Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership.
The resources of the Institute were shipped to the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) for a tailor-made management development of senior management tiers of the broadcaster.
The training covered human resource management, leadership, advertising, marketing, budgeting, broadcasting regulation, media ethics and the role of editorial independence in a media company’s survival.
Particular emphasis was placed on programme management and scheduling and, at the request of the SBC, audience psychology and audience research were designed to their specific needs.
Running the course on site was a departure from the SPI’s usual training methodology. “To take advantage of economies of scale and of geography, we have almost always held our courses at the Institute for our course participants who come from across Africa,” SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa said.
“Because of this, our training programmes’ methodology has tended to be a mix of case studies and patterns and simulated role plays and scenarios to try to re-enact real-world conditions and experiences.
“But in the case of the SBC and some institutions which we are also serving, the training has been directed to their specific needs and applications and hosted on location for maximum impact. It is certainly far better to train within the context of and with direct relevance to the prevailing conditions of our customers and partners, who also give us their input on the training they need.”
Seychelles, a palm tree-lined archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, has the highest per capita GDP in Africa and has progressive social development programmes. The islands are also the playground of the jet setters who are used to every digital luxury.
The SBC is well aware that, as a public broadcaster, it cannot be left behind by the current digital revolution. It asked the SPI to develop the training to the SBC’s specific needs and conditions, with special reference to the migration of broadcasting to digital terrestrial transmission and how to tackle the rapid growth of cellphone and other digital media.
SBC head of learning Pat Matyot said the SBC needed the training to drive the broadcaster into the new broadcasting environment. “As a broadcaster, we need to respond to the changes in our society before the digital era overtakes us,” he said.
Content trainer Howard Thomas said: “Training broadcasting is only of use when the training is designed specifically to the needs of the learning broadcaster. Digital is not just a challenge to broadcasters – it presents different challenges to different broadcasters. There are too many differences between cultures, economies, audiences and broadcasters for generic training to be of much use.”
The Institute is now planning to roll out training on change management in handling the new digital broadcasting environment throughout the continent.
Mdlongwa said: “The institute has always been at the forefront of learning innovation – right from the decision by Rhodes University to start the Institute in 2002 to address the critical but neglected disciplines of media management and leadership.
“These emphasize a critical need for media managers to understand the key economic, social and political factors that define their operating environments and how human beings work and behave in different conditions as pre-requisites for achieving sustainability for their firms.
“With technology increasingly defining our lives, it is imperative that we, as an institute, quickly face up to the challenges of media innovation in a rapidly shifting landscape. We certainly do not claim to know all the answers on the best way forward in our ‘age of discontinuity’ because, as Gianfranco Poggi pointed out years ago, a way of knowing is also a way of not knowing as our knowledge as humans will always be partial.”
VICTORIA, Seychelles -- Seychelles was the scene of ground-breaking media management training in July by Rhodes University’s Sol Plaatje Institute (SPI) for Media Leadership.
The resources of the Institute were shipped to the Seychelles Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) for a tailor-made management development of senior management tiers of the broadcaster.
The training covered human resource management, leadership, advertising, marketing, budgeting, broadcasting regulation, media ethics and the role of editorial independence in a media company’s survival.
Particular emphasis was placed on programme management and scheduling and, at the request of the SBC, audience psychology and audience research were designed to their specific needs.
Running the course on site was a departure from the SPI’s usual training methodology. “To take advantage of economies of scale and of geography, we have almost always held our courses at the Institute for our course participants who come from across Africa,” SPI Director Francis Mdlongwa said.
“Because of this, our training programmes’ methodology has tended to be a mix of case studies and patterns and simulated role plays and scenarios to try to re-enact real-world conditions and experiences.
“But in the case of the SBC and some institutions which we are also serving, the training has been directed to their specific needs and applications and hosted on location for maximum impact. It is certainly far better to train within the context of and with direct relevance to the prevailing conditions of our customers and partners, who also give us their input on the training they need.”
Seychelles, a palm tree-lined archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the coast of East Africa, has the highest per capita GDP in Africa and has progressive social development programmes. The islands are also the playground of the jet setters who are used to every digital luxury.
The SBC is well aware that, as a public broadcaster, it cannot be left behind by the current digital revolution. It asked the SPI to develop the training to the SBC’s specific needs and conditions, with special reference to the migration of broadcasting to digital terrestrial transmission and how to tackle the rapid growth of cellphone and other digital media.
SBC head of learning Pat Matyot said the SBC needed the training to drive the broadcaster into the new broadcasting environment. “As a broadcaster, we need to respond to the changes in our society before the digital era overtakes us,” he said.
Content trainer Howard Thomas said: “Training broadcasting is only of use when the training is designed specifically to the needs of the learning broadcaster. Digital is not just a challenge to broadcasters – it presents different challenges to different broadcasters. There are too many differences between cultures, economies, audiences and broadcasters for generic training to be of much use.”
The Institute is now planning to roll out training on change management in handling the new digital broadcasting environment throughout the continent.
Mdlongwa said: “The institute has always been at the forefront of learning innovation – right from the decision by Rhodes University to start the Institute in 2002 to address the critical but neglected disciplines of media management and leadership.
“These emphasize a critical need for media managers to understand the key economic, social and political factors that define their operating environments and how human beings work and behave in different conditions as pre-requisites for achieving sustainability for their firms.
“With technology increasingly defining our lives, it is imperative that we, as an institute, quickly face up to the challenges of media innovation in a rapidly shifting landscape. We certainly do not claim to know all the answers on the best way forward in our ‘age of discontinuity’ because, as Gianfranco Poggi pointed out years ago, a way of knowing is also a way of not knowing as our knowledge as humans will always be partial.”
Friday, June 17, 2011
Google ranks best in industry salaries — They’re also hiring
By Christopher Lazley
In the digital revolution, few companies carry as much clout as Google. Although its physical headquarters can be found in Mountain View, California, the Google ideation is more than anything an approach to life, a way of doing things, a signifier of innovation of technological initiative and, according to yet another survey released recently, a very nice place to work, too, despite the bad fudge brownies.
The survey, conducted by Payscale, reports that Google employees earn on average about 23 per cent more than their industry counterparts in other companies. The average Googler earns US$141 000 per year , and while it’s tempting to think of an HR ethic solely in terms of pay scales, the true value of the Google organisation is its own brand of off-beat corporate culture.
In January this year, Google awarded all its employees a US$1 000 tax-free bonus as part of an incentive scheme to discourage staff from defecting to principal rivals such as Facebook. It also provides a host of less traditional amenities like gourmet meals, massages, exercise equipment, video games, billiard tables, and snack rooms. The company is clear about the need to catalyse new modes of thinking in an ultra-competitive market segment.
Just recently, Mashable reported that Google is now embarking on its largest hiring scheme to date. In an interview with Bryan Power, a people operations manager who oversees all of Google’s hiring in North and South America, it was made apparent that there’s no one-size-fits-all policy about staff recruitment and retention. “Google knows the world changes quickly,” said Power, “and we need people who can adapt and take on different challenges. A lot has changed in the last five years, and the next five years will [change] too. We need people who can adapt and take on different challenges.”
Power says that some interviewees will even arrive in board-shorts and T-Shirts, but manage to impress the company with their sharp intellect. Others, decked in their sartorial best, just weren’t prepared. Part of Google’s corporate philosophy, in fact, is that “you can be serious without a suit.” In this way, it has tended to make some pioneering steps toward fostering truly creative throughout that stretches the more traditional mold of corporate doppelgangers in grayscale suits and black briefcases.
One of the challenges that some multinational corporations face is trying to attract an industry-leading workforce amidst competition from ostensibly more attractive companies like Google. Who doesn’t want free lattes and recreation during working hours? It’s critical to keep in mind that no single company is perfect.
In an anonymous staff survey thread at Google, one employee said, “A common problem [at Google] is that it’s easy to become spoiled by all the perks. Several offices have developed distinct cultures of entitlement, and people whine about the quality of the fudge on the free brownies. It’s embarrassing to be around people who’ve become like spoiled children.”
Other staff pointed to patent management-line problems and inefficiencies. Google seems as plagued by staff politics as almost any other organisation out there. So while you may regard Google at the holy grail of your career (and perhaps in some ways it is), they aren’t the working man’s utopia. They’re damn close though.
Photocredit: jobsbump.com
In the digital revolution, few companies carry as much clout as Google. Although its physical headquarters can be found in Mountain View, California, the Google ideation is more than anything an approach to life, a way of doing things, a signifier of innovation of technological initiative and, according to yet another survey released recently, a very nice place to work, too, despite the bad fudge brownies.
The survey, conducted by Payscale, reports that Google employees earn on average about 23 per cent more than their industry counterparts in other companies. The average Googler earns US$141 000 per year , and while it’s tempting to think of an HR ethic solely in terms of pay scales, the true value of the Google organisation is its own brand of off-beat corporate culture.
In January this year, Google awarded all its employees a US$1 000 tax-free bonus as part of an incentive scheme to discourage staff from defecting to principal rivals such as Facebook. It also provides a host of less traditional amenities like gourmet meals, massages, exercise equipment, video games, billiard tables, and snack rooms. The company is clear about the need to catalyse new modes of thinking in an ultra-competitive market segment.
Just recently, Mashable reported that Google is now embarking on its largest hiring scheme to date. In an interview with Bryan Power, a people operations manager who oversees all of Google’s hiring in North and South America, it was made apparent that there’s no one-size-fits-all policy about staff recruitment and retention. “Google knows the world changes quickly,” said Power, “and we need people who can adapt and take on different challenges. A lot has changed in the last five years, and the next five years will [change] too. We need people who can adapt and take on different challenges.”
Power says that some interviewees will even arrive in board-shorts and T-Shirts, but manage to impress the company with their sharp intellect. Others, decked in their sartorial best, just weren’t prepared. Part of Google’s corporate philosophy, in fact, is that “you can be serious without a suit.” In this way, it has tended to make some pioneering steps toward fostering truly creative throughout that stretches the more traditional mold of corporate doppelgangers in grayscale suits and black briefcases.
One of the challenges that some multinational corporations face is trying to attract an industry-leading workforce amidst competition from ostensibly more attractive companies like Google. Who doesn’t want free lattes and recreation during working hours? It’s critical to keep in mind that no single company is perfect.
In an anonymous staff survey thread at Google, one employee said, “A common problem [at Google] is that it’s easy to become spoiled by all the perks. Several offices have developed distinct cultures of entitlement, and people whine about the quality of the fudge on the free brownies. It’s embarrassing to be around people who’ve become like spoiled children.”
Other staff pointed to patent management-line problems and inefficiencies. Google seems as plagued by staff politics as almost any other organisation out there. So while you may regard Google at the holy grail of your career (and perhaps in some ways it is), they aren’t the working man’s utopia. They’re damn close though.
Photocredit: jobsbump.com
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