The South African National Editors' Forum (SANEF) has described the financial challenges facing the media industry as "an absolute crisis".
According to SANEF Executive Director Kate Skinner, the nationwide lockdown has worsened the financial situation by causing a massive revenue loss. This comes after the Mail & Guardian reported that it has lost up to 70% of its advertising revenue. Other media outlets, such as The Citizen, have also reported losses of revenue during the lockdown period. Skinner said that the loss of revenue will make media entities vulnerable and will cause job losses in the industry. She stressed that there is a need for plans and action for emergency funding to be directed towards the industry. "We need to look at what we need to do. There will definitely be a need for emergency funds to keep media entities running." According to Skinner, SANEF has compiled a list of funders "from across the world", including Google and Facebook, whom they believe need to set up emergency funding for the media industry. She also said that the current funding model needs to be redrawn by finding alternative funding options including public and donor funding. She added: "The media is absolutely critical for democracy. In particular situations, such as the Covid-19 crisis, the media plays an even more important role [by] putting information out there." Listen to the full discussion here:
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AuthorZahid Jadwat is a South African writer, columnist, podcaster and radio show host. Archives
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