21 September 2006

The International Media Forum, ending in Johannesburg on Thursday, brings key players from the international news media together with South African business, government and communications leaders to tackle the issue of South Africa's image abroad.

Keynote speakers at the two-day event, taking place at the Sandton Convention Centre, include senior editors from the Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, CNBC, Time, Reuters, Dow Jones and Al Jazeera International.

Local speakers include BDFM Publishers MD Mzi Malunga; International Marketing Council chairperson and Airports Company South Africa CEO Wendy Luhabe; Caxton Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Anton Harber; 702 Talk Radio's Tim Modise; and Minister in the Presidency Essop Pahad.

Event organiser Fergal Parkinson told Business Day that the forum would be a "dialogue between those who shape South Africa's image abroad and South Africans who have the power to change their future for the better by the way they communicate the events taking place inside their country and their companies."

"In the first 12 years of democracy, South Africa has experienced higher levels of consistent economic growth - and lower levels of inflation - than at any time in the last century," the organisers say on the conference website.

"It is considered an increasingly attractive destination for investment and tourism, with more than 7 million tourists visiting the country last year."

Yet "there is still a major challenge ahead in communicating what the country has to offer to the international investor community."

"Gone are the days when the global news media were [automatically] interested in South Africa," Parkinson told Business Day. "There needs to be a clear communication strategy to project the most accurate view of the country's development."

The conference would "create a roadmap for future successful media relations and provide the tools and contacts to put it into practice".

The International Media Forum is a joint venture between London-based Business Conferences International, the International Marketing Council of South Africa and local marketing and PR firm Meropa Communications.

Supporters of the event include the Department of Trade and Industry, Business Unity South Africa and the Public Relations Institute of SA.

For more information, visit the conference website.

SouthAfrica.info reporter

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