Date Published: 03/09/10

PRESS RELEASE (for immediate release)

Africa Media & Democracy Conference

18th – 20th Aug 2010, ACCRA – Ghana 

The AMDMC, a Ghana based non-governmental organization announces it’s maiden

Conference; The Africa Media & Democracy Conference which is scheduled to take place in Accra, Ghana from the 18th to the 20th of August 2010. The organization’s objectives are; 

•To constructively promote and ensure positive influence on the role of the media in the practice of democratic governance in Africa.

•To facilitate stronger relations between the academia, media practitioners and governance.

•To encourage, and assist in the development of media programmes (AMDMC Media programmes for civil society e.g. radio and television) which specifically engages civil society on issues of governance, democracy and the media.

•To foster the development of a culture of democracy and promote the rule of law

•To mediate in national development, sustainable peace and growth.  

The Africa Media Democracy project (AMDMC) consists of three phases (a) The Conference (b) Publication (c) The Chair Award programme. 

THE CONFERENCE: The biannual conference takes place in a selected African country and examines various aspects of the role of the media in democratic governance in Africa with emphasis on local themes. The Conference is addressed by speakers drawn from a range of academic, political, media, and governance backgrounds. 

THE AMDMC PUBLICATION: The publication aims at documenting discourses on media and democracy in Africa. Papers on various aspects of the media and democracy are to be published on a regional basis. The first publication will provide a range of essays and perspectives on the practices of media and democracy within the West African States (ECOWAS). The second series of publication focuses on Southern, Eastern and Northern African countries respectively. The publication is intended to contribute to scholarly material in highlighting the growing significance of the role of media and the practice of democracy in Africa. 

THE CHAIR AWARD: The AMDMC-Chair Award programme is awarded to a distinguished African scholar to take a one year residency at a nominated African university and a non-African University. Currently University of London, Goldsmiths College, is the participating European Institution for the AMDMC Chair Award. 

THE ACCRA CONFERENCE: 18th– 20th August 2010: Democratic governance in practice is a ‘work-in-progress’ model and therefore must always be under constant examination and revision. It is in this capacity that the role of the media becomes critical. For democracy to have an impact and meaning as a government of the people, by the people and for the people, it must be mediated by an impartial and a committed media in national development. A vibrant and healthy democracy can be sustained and guaranteed by a responsible media. The role of the media as one of the vanguards of emerging democracies in Africa calls for a full and an unhindered participation. Equally important is the interrogation of the manner in which the media itself impacts on democratic processes.  

The Africa Media & Democracy Conference, does not only engage discourses of democracy within the academia, but creates the platform which directly engages media practitioners, academics, politicians, and social commentators etc to dissect the role of the media in democratic process and governance. The Conference aims to examine the broad impact of the media on democracy under the theme ‘Mediating Democracy in Africa’. It will seek to address the role of the media in the democratic process with a focus on the critical concerns that arises from the practice by the media as it performs its legitimate role in the democratic process such as e.g. ‘Announcing election results’ ahead of an Electoral Commission or the ‘Deployment of Press Conferences’ by political parties as political posturing during voting and ballot counting period of an election. The conference will seek to address both the constitutional and ethical issues that erupt from such media practices as well as providing context for comparison, dialogue and analysis between media practices situated in different cultural-political environments.  

The conference aims to bring together delegates from around the world including politicians, parliamentarians, media owners, broadcasters, print, online and community journalists; academics/students and members of the non-governmental community. The conference is designed to have six (6) major speakers for each day of the Conference and with an interactive presentation and 10 plenary sessions with 30 presentations and a workshop for media practitioners 

Barima Adu-Asamoa, Director of the organisation intimated ‘Whilst Africa has undergone traumatic experiences over the last six hundred years on all indexes of human development; she is still expected to demonstrate her ability to uphold democratic values. Much as one would expect an improved performance in terms of governance and in particular democratic governance in Africa, it is also fair to say that there are mitigating factors that ought to be placed in its historical context. Nonetheless, the impetus towards democratic governance and its implication for development in the 21st century suggests that Africa must strenuously work towards peaceful and stable democratic governance for development. This demands that all stakeholders involved in the democratisation process have a responsibility to perform diligently and uphold democratic values for the good of the citizenry. Hence, the manner in which the media in particular does so, that is the interface between the media and democratic process, must be critically examined for the realisation of sustainable good governance in a democratic dispensation’.  

In an earlier development, the Vice-President of Ghana, H.E. John Dramani Mahama affirmed the commitment of the Ghanaian government towards deepening democratic governance and called on media professionals and academics to equally help sustain and enhance the growth of democracy in Africa. The Vice-President made this remark when the Executive of the AMDMC organisation led by the Director, Barima Adu-Asamoa called on him at the Castle Osu, Ghana. The Vice-President welcomed the “Africa Democracy Conference” as a laudable initiative that would make engaging contributions towards strengthening the democratic governance in Africa. He also noted the significance of the organisation having its head office in Ghana and assured the delegation that his government will provide the necessary support to the organisation in pursuit of its objectives.  
 

ISSUED BY: AMDMC PRESS SECRETARY. (6th March 2010)

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT

THE AFRICA MEDIA & DEMOCRACY CONFERENCE (AMDMC)

P O BOX BT 440 C2 TEAM, GHANA

Tel: + 233 22 208185 - Fax: + 233 22 208185 - Mobile: +233 543793228