Pambazuka News 173 Thu, 9 Sep 2004 http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=24439 has the following item on the award that MISA (Media Institute of Southern Africa) gave to Methaetsile Leepile, editor of the Setswana (and other Botswanan languages) Mokg��si newspaper. An abridged version of his acceptance speech, "The Role of Indigenous Languages in Serving National Interest," was recently posted on AfricanLanguages (message 222).
Don Osborn Bisharat.net BOTSWANA: BOTSWANA NEWSPAPER ESTABLISHER WINS PRESS FREEDOM AWARD MISA Communiqu�� (Misa Press Freedom Award 2004) September 3, 2004 Botswana newspaper establisher wins press freedom award Mr. Methaetsile Leepile was awarded the prestigious MISA Press Freedom Award for 2004 for his involvement in the establishment of the first vernacular Setswana newspaper in Botswana. His achievement was celebrated for its contribution to the promotion of indigenous language systems in the media in the sub region. At the same time, MISA paid tribute to Mr. Leepile's illustrious career in media development in the region - a career which spans over more than 20 years. In March 2002 under Mr. Leepile's guidance, the first ever vernacular Setswana broadsheet newspaper, Mokgosi, was born in Botswana. The weekly broadsheet has a circulation of 10 000 copies. According to Mr. Leepile he was led by the need to promote the Setswana language which, although recognised as a national language, is not adequately promoted in Botswana as most communication in the country is in the English language, including all government and media communications. Mokgosi also carries articles in other vernacular languages. Editorially Mokgosi newspaper also tackles social, political and economic issues from a developmental agenda, ensuring that a previously large sector of the Botswana population is able to access credible information on issues that affect their livelihood. Mr Leepile is however no stranger to MISA. He was amongst the group of media practitioners who met in Chobe 1989 to discuss the future of the media in our region. These discussions finally led to the formation of MISA through the Windhoek Declaration. He became the first director of MISA in 1994 and left its head office in Windhoek in 1999 to take up the management of the Southern Africa Media Development Fund (Samdef). Speaking at a gala dinner in Maseru, Lesotho, on August 27 2004, Mr. Leepile noted that language encapsulates a people's culture, its social mores, its values, and its knowledge. "When a language dies, a people's knowledge dies with it. Language is about economic and social empowerment. More people can be brought into public and productive life by wider and more productive use of indigenous languages like Setswana. The development of language can be used to promote a sound understanding of entrepreneurship, commerce, economics, history, science and technology", he said in his acceptance speech. * The annual MISA Press Freedom Award is designed to recognise the work of an individual or institution that is considered to have made a significant contribution to the promotion of media freedom in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region. The excellence which the award acknowledges can be achieved either through reportage or in other ways such as media reform, lobbying or training. Mr. Leepile is the 11th recipient of the MISA Press Freedom Award ... ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TpIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AfricanLanguages/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
