Editors from India, Brazil and South Africa have agreed to increase the flow of information between governments and the media in order to highlight the growing political and economic relations between the three countries.
The state Bua News agency reports editors from the IBSA bloc acknowledged they have failed to concede IBSA as the new economic order – something they said they would change. They further agreed that there was a need to change the focus from prioritising news based on colonial historic links.
They also resolved to establish a directory of experts and journalists reporting on IBSA activities and a database that would be accessible to the media. The editors met ahead the 5th IBSA Summit of Heads of State and Government hosted by President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria, kicking off on Tuesday, to reflect on media challenges in the three countries.
Government feels that media has been slow to highlight the growing investments of the trilateral, developmental bloc which is aimed at promoting South-South cooperation and exchange in the bloc. It also believes there is a need for a change of mind-set in newsrooms to focus on developing countries and their potential, BuaNews added.
The group, which was established in 2003 to boost South-South ties, has a total population of about 1.4 billion and the Gross Domestic Product of over 3.2 trillion US dollars. Speaking at the meeting, Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS) CEO Jimmy Manyi (pictured) said the focus should be more on developmental issues and the South–South agenda. “We really urge the editors to focus on the IBSA agenda, because it’s the future. These countries have a lot of untapped resources … therefore the media should be playing more of a promotional role to say what the opportunities that these countries have, rather than consuming other people’s news we need to focus more on our agenda.”
The forum was co-hosted by the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and the Inter Press Service (IPS) Africa with support from the GCIS and the World Bank. Commenting on GCIS’ participation at the forum, Manyi said it was its duty to know what the issues editors from the three countries are facing and how government communication needs to improve to ensure that information is pollinated. Manyi believed that the forum was a stepping stone for promoting and marketing the three countries much better, among each other and the rest of the world.
IPS Africa Regional Director, Paula Fray, who concurred that although IBSA has emerged as a significant bloc in the developing countries, the flow of information remained focused on the north agenda. SANEF Chair Mondli Makhanya hoped that the meeting and the recommendations to the Heads of State would “amplify” the coverage of IBSA. The Heads of State are meeting in Pretoria today, where issues of co-ordination between the three counties in the UNSC, climate change as well as economic cooperation will be discussed.
