INDEPENDENT MEDIA SUFFERS UNDER COVID-19
Relief Fund for Journalists Established
Journalists are essential workers in maintaining a vibrant democracy, and through their reporting help to strengthen accountability and transparency.
Yet, just when we need to strengthen accountability and transparency through effective reporting, many media houses are experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 and many journalists are losing their jobs.
According to SANEF’s COVID19 Impact on Journalism” Report published in June 2020 over 700 journalist have lost their jobs. Freelancers had been particularly badly impacted and that 60 percent of their members had lost almost
70 per cent of their income – and that some had lost 80 percent to 100 percent.
To respond to this crisis, the Social Justice Initiative has partnered with the South African National Editors forum to set up a relief fund that can assist journalists and independent media during this period of hardship. The Social Justice Initiative will be acting as a fiscal host and will be playing an oversight role to ensure that all funds are fairly and transparently distributed.
ABOUT SANEF
The South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF)
(SANEF) is a non-profit organisation whose members are editors, senior journalists and journalism trainers from all areas of the South African media. We are committed to championing South Africa’s hard-won freedom of expression and promoting quality, ethics and diversity in the South African media. We promote excellence in journalism through fighting for media freedom, writing policy submissions, research and education and training programmes. SANEF is not a union.
