Pretoria - October 19, 2020, marks the 43rd anniversary of Black Wednesday, a day which is used to commemorate the journey to Media Freedom in South Africa.
On this day in 1977, the apartheid regime silenced independent voices by banning numerous organisations, shutting down newspapers critical of the government and arresting activists and editors, including Percy Qoboza, editor of The World.
To reflect on the importance of this day, the National Press Club, in partnership with the University of South Africa (Unisa) and the Qoboza family will host the 10th annual Percy Qoboza Memorial Lecture on Monday.
The lecture will be delivered by seasoned journalist, writer, journalism teacher and SA Press Ombudsman, Pippa Green, under the topic ‘Why journalism matters. The challenges have changed but has its core purpose? ‘
Green was appointed Press Ombudsman in 2019. During her extensive career, she has been deputy editor of the Sunday Independent and the Pretoria News, political editor and head of Radio News at the SABC, and a professor of Journalism at Pretoria University.
She was awarded a Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University and was a visiting Ferris professor at Princeton University.
She authored the book, Choice not Fate: The Life and Times of Trevor Manuel, which was shortlisted for the Alan Paton Award.
Following the lecture, Rams Mabote, well-known broadcaster, writer and reputation specialist, and Mike Siluma, Sunday Times deputy editor, will share their views on the topic.
The lecture is to take place virtually at 10am on Microsoft Teams (details on the NPC Facebook page).
Pretoria News