Corporate Social Responsibility
Education and training
South Africa has a pressing need for education and training to further bolster the country’s economic growth. Accordingly Media24 regards education and training – internally and externally – as a priority. The Media in the Classroom (MiK) project, which aims to promote a culture of learning and reading among learners, has for the past decade been one of Media24’s most popular community projects. Thousands of learners and teachers are annually shown the benefits of using newspapers and the internet in the classroom. More than R1 million is earmarked for this project annually. The National School Newspaper Project (NSP) helps to promote a culture of reading newspapers. It involves training about 3 500 editorial staffers for school newspapers. Schools are also encouraged to enter the countrywide school newspaper competition. Learners are encouraged to become actively involved in their communities when establishing their school newspapers. They are taught the importance of business plans and schools are empowered to run their newspapers profitably. In 2006 more than 40 courses were offered countrywide and about 84% of the learners who attended were from disadvantaged communities. The Lapdesk campaign is an exciting project aimed at eradicating the shortage of desks in schools. There are about four million learners in South Africa who don’t have access to proper desks. Through the project durable, cost-effective lapdesks are distributed at schools. Media24 has, in conjunction with several titles, acquired and distributed lapdesks among learners.
Arts and culture
Media24 annually acts as chief sponsor for several arts festivals held throughout South Africa. These festivals go a long way towards promoting the Afrikaans language and the arts and culture, while also creating several job opportunities. The Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK), the biggest Afrikaans festival in South Africa, is supported annually by Die Burger and several other Media24 products such as SARIE, Huisgenoot and Weg! In January the Suidooster Festival hits Cape Town and in June it is Bloemfontein’s turn with the Volksblad Festival, which celebrated its sixth anniversary in 2006. In September the Aardklop festival, sponsored by titles such as Beeld and Finweek, comes to Potchefstroom. Other festivals with a strong Media24 presence are the Cederberg Festival in Clanwilliam, Innie Bos in Nelspruit, the Kalfie Festival in Hermanus and the Rittel Festival on the West Coast. Investment in local communities is an important aspect of the festivals. The KKNK for instance creates more than 500 job opportunities before and during the festival.
Other CSI initiatives
Media24’s publications and business units initiate and participate in fund-raising projects throughout the year. For instance, the daily newspapers rely on readers’ contributions for their various projects to ease the hardship of underprivileged children in South Africa. These projects include Die Burger Christmas Fund, Beeld Children’s Fund, Rapport Education Fund, Volksblad Christmas Fund and Paarl Post Open Air Fund. In 2005, Media24 launched a special volunteer corps called Volunteers24. The corps entails that members of Media24 can nominate projects in the community that they would like to get involved with. In 2006 a City Mission safe house for young boys, The Percy Bartley House, received a face lift when the Volunteer24 team painted the rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms and outside of the house. New carpets, mattresses and bedding were also donated. In Gauteng, Volunteers24 is actively involved with SOAP Kidz, a nonprofit organisation that teaches less fortunate children about the environment and nature.
