SAMIP | South Africa Media Innovation Program

SAMIP Expands to Five Southern African Countries

The South Africa Media Innovation Program (SAMIP) is expanding its focus to include independent media organisations in five new Southern African countries: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

SAMIP Participants

Our participants have included some of South Africa’s most exciting digital publishers, investigative start-ups, narrative-changing non-profits, and more.

Meet the SAMIP Cohort

SAMIP at Work

4 years. 24 orgs. 30+ trainings and events. $800,000+ in grants. $1 million+ in investments. $300,000+ in capacity building and technical support.

years

media organizations

$830 000+

in grants

$330 000+

in capacity building

$1.24 million+

in investments

$2.25 million+

in external revenue unlocked

Case Studies

Igunundu

Volume

How Volume is perfecting low-cost, high-quality podcast production to tell stories of the pandemic and beyond.

Media Hack Collective

How Media Hack is showing the business case and civic importance of public-interest data projects.

Viewfinder

How Viewfinder is developing revenue streams to support hard-hitting accountability journalism.

Children’s Radio Foundation

Using WhatsApp as a reporting tool and connect community radio projects to their audiences.

gsport

How gsport is creating partnerships and commercial sustainability to build the profile of women in sport.

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OBJECTIVES

Digital native products

Developing new approaches for collecting news and information, reporting and distribution that embrace the possibilities of technology.

New revenue opportunities

Pioneering new sources of revenue to help media companies achieve sustainability while remaining financially independent.

Innovating in distribution

Supporting new models for distributing news that save costs, add value, or reach new audiences.

Supporting underserved languages

Attempting to engage and distribute content to communities in vernacular languages that are under-served.

Reaching rural communities

Testing innovative ways to reach and empower people outside of major urban areas, and those generally under-served by existing news media.

Transitioning to digital

Finding and implementing solutions, products or processes that assist legacy media to transform their businesses.

Team

Bilal Randeree

Program Manager

Bilal is Program Director for Africa & MENA at MDIF. He is a CA(SA) with 15 years’ experience in tech and media. He was former CEO of a media startup in Qatar, Social Media Editor at Al Jazeera, and a Manager in Transaction Services at KPMG.

Brigitte Read

Program Officer

Brigitte has a Masters in Journalism from Wits University and has worked in African media development for over twelve years, most recently as Programme Manager with KAS Media Africa and previously launching the Wits Africa-China Reporting project within Wits Journalism.

Khumo Sello

Junior Program Officer

Khumo holds a Masters in Management in Innovation Studies from Wits Business School and a BSc and Honours in Urban and Regional Planning from Wits University. She previously worked as a Project Manager at the South African Cities Network.

Nyeleti Risenga

Program Assistant

Nyeleti holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Science and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts Honors in Media Studies at University of South Africa. She joined SAMIP as a Program Intern in 2021 and was recently appointed as Program Assistant.

Advisory Committee

Mandla Langa

Mandla Langa is one of South Africa’s internationally acknowledged contemporary writers, cultural organisers and a veteran of the national liberation struggle. Mandla is a poet, short-story writer, novelist, and cultural activist.

Dinesh Balliah

Dinesh Balliah is a media consultant currently pursuing doctoral research at Wits University in Journalism and Media Studies, studying newsroom convergence and the impact on journalism practice in South Africa.

Mohamed Nanabhay

Mohamed Nanabhay is the Deputy CEO of the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF), which invests in independent media around the world providing the news, information and debate that people need to build free, thriving societies.

Nishant Lalawani

Nishant Lalawani leads Luminate’s global strategy for funding independent media, including investigative journalism, press freedom, combatting misinformation, and innovative financial models. He also oversees Luminate’s strategy, learning & impact, and partner support teams.

Pontsho Pilane

Pontsho Pilane is a journalist and media trainer who has been a senior writer at Health-e News, and a health journalist at Bhekisisa centre for health journalism. She debuted as a journalist at The Daily Vox, where she wrote primarily about gender and race.

Vincent Maher

Vincent Maher is pioneer and strategist in the South Africa digital media industry, currently serving as the Head of Digital Enablement at Multichoice. Prior to joining Multichoice, Maher was the Chief Innovation Officer at Kagiso Media.