Africa Agenda welcomes you and our esteemed guests and invitees to the 2019 World Press Freedom Day celebration in Denver, Colorado

There are many challenges facing reporters across the broad and varied African continent. Still four—Ghana, Namibia, South Africa and Cape Verde—are among the top 30 free-press countries, according to the 2018 World Press Freedom Index. We can learn from their examples.

In other countries, repression ranges from imprisonment to tight state control of press outlets. For example:

• In Nigeria journalists covering the March, 2019 elections were detained and harassed by security services or other armed individuals, denied access to report on polling stations, forced to delete photographs, and assaulted.
• In South Africa this year a journalist had her contact information tweeted and was threatened with rape and murder in the hours that followed.

Courageous African journalists are working hard to report and finding ways to expose the truth despite the difficult circumstances. The perspectives and first-hand reporting are critical for us and others to understand the real stories breaking across the continent. Join us to celebrate and learn from some of the motivating reports from the continent.

Agenda:

• 6:00 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. – Registration, brief African snack, drinks, networking, and seating.

• 6:15 p.m. -6:29 p.m. – Press Conference – Introduction, remarks from Executive Director, George Bamu
• 6:29 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Moment of silence honoring African media members who are currently imprisoned or have lost their lives in pursuit of the truth.
• 6:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Topic 1 – The role of accurate reporting during election cycles and impacts on leading peaceful transitions of power or legitimate re-election campaigns in African countries. (One guest interview)
• 6:45 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Topic 2: – How can African news and media outlets build and create professional credibility operating in high pressure environments and in the age of social media influx, and how to engage African youth who make up the majority of populations in African countries? (One guest interview)
• 7:00 p.m. – 7:15 p.m. – Topics 3: What positive strides have been made in Africa regarding media access, affordability, regulatory protections, free speech and freedom of expression etc. (Group interaction)
• 7:15-7:30pm- Audience participation with questions or comments. Wrap up with conclusions.

Please note: Participation is capped at 25 to enable a deeper discussion.