Events

Tentative Agenda:

1:15PM
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Anya Schiffrin

1:30PM-2:30PM
Media and the Extractive Sector
Arvind Ganesan, Angelo Izama, Peter Rosenblum, Ramata Soré
Moderator: Rachel Boynton
This panel will look at the role that African media is playing in covering the extractive sector. Panelists will examine how the media contributes to promoting good governance and the constructive use of revenues, as well as discuss the line between journalism and advocacy.

2:30PM-3:30PM
Transparency and Governance in Africa: The Work of NGOs
Kobina Aidoo, Ian Gary, Alexandra Gillies
Moderator: Eamon Kircher-Allen
Transparency and governance in many African countries, particularly in those that rely heavily on extractives for revenues, is notoriously lacking. Citizens, the media, and even government officials know too well the opportunities this creates for corruption, and the obstacles it presents to democratic engagement. In this panel, experts from the Revenue Watch Institute and Oxfam discuss the root causes of these problems -the politics of poor governance, the legal frameworks behind relationships with oil companies, and institutional unaccountability- and the work their organizations are doing to address them.

3:30PM-4:30PM
African Media, Social Change, and the Politics of Representation
Ben Akoh, Dayo Olapade, Saskia Sassen
Moderator: Karen Attiah
This panel will look at the role of the African media during periods of social, political, and cultural change in Africa. Panelists will discuss their experiences with the media in various African nations, as well as explore the media's role in the changing landscape of cultural representations of Africa around the globe.

4:30PM-5:00PM
Tea and Coffee Break

5:00PM-6:00PM
How Do Changes in the Media Sector Relate to Economic Development?
Michael Behrman, Sanjukta Roy
In this session, Internews Network will present its new research that looks at how changes in the media sector in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa relate -or not- to other key aspects of economic development. Panelists will also address the issue of whether media development precedes certain aspects of economic development or vice versa.

6:00PM-7:00PM
Closing Remarks
Joseph Stiglitz