Media programme

Vision

The OSISA media programme will act as a catalyst in the development of media through which all members of society have a voice, and thereby hold those in authority and power accountable to those they are supposed to serve.

Mission

OSISA media programme will endeavour to be a flexible, professional and transparent provider of financial, technical and advisory support to projects that:

• Promote people’s right to communicate by providing marginalised members of society - in particular women and young people - access to and control of media

• Advocate for the right of all citizens’ to access and disseminate information via the means of communication.

In so doing, the OSISA media programme will endeavour to enhance and enforce the media's public watchdog role.

Purpose of the programme

Few southern Africans have access to and control over media and other means of mass communication. Therefore most citizens of the region are unable to exercise fully their right to communicate - a right that embraces the globally recognised rights of free expression, media freedom and access to information, which are considered to be essential for socio-economic development, and the attainment of genuine democracy.

Therefore the OSISA media programme endeavours to help people to overcome barriers that prevent them from exercising fully their right to communicate through mass media. Accordingly, the OSISA media programme will support initiatives that promote and enhance the viability of non-governmental media, in particular print and radio. The OSISA media programme will also support initiatives that develop the role of media to democratise society, in particular those that enable women, young people and other marginalised members of society to exercise their right to communicate through mass media - especially radio and print - and thereby hold those in authority and power accountable to those they are supposed to serve.

Goals

Through such support, the OSISA media programme aims to promote the development of more open, just and democratic societies in which those in positions of power are accountable to those they serve. To achieve this, the OSISA media programme aims to empower women, young people and other marginalised people to exercise their right to communicate through mass media, and thereby to enhance the public watchdog role of such media.

Guiding principles

Accordingly, the OSISA media programme will support initiatives that:

• Promote the right of all people to communicate

• Play a role in holding those in authority and power accountable to those they are supposed to serve

• Encourage the free flow of diverse and relevant information through mass media

• Support the development of mass media that are accessible to and / or controlled by the people these media seek to serve

• Enhance the long-term sustainability of non-governmental mass media