Media Statement: SOS Coalition Calls for Stronger Public Service Media Advocacy Across Southern Africa Following its 3rd Annual PSM Symposium

The SOS Support Public Broadcasting Coalition, in collaboration with the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), hosted its third annual Public Service Media (PSM) Symposium in Johannesburg on 8 and 9 September 2026 under the theme “Strengthening Public Service Media’s Digital Future and Advocacy”.

The two-day Symposium brought together diverse stakeholders to reflect on the challenges facing public service media and identify practical pathways towards a stronger, more sustainable and independent public service media in Southern Africa. The discussions centred around the changing media environment, sustainability and funding, governance, editorial independence, digital transformation, and the role that strong and sustained advocacy can play in strengthening public service media. 

The first day focused primarily on the South African public service media landscape, including the challenges facing the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), the need for sustainable funding, institutional governance and the continued relevance of public service media in a rapidly changing digital environment.

The second day expanded the conversation beyond South African borders to the Southern African region, with perspectives from Botswana, Malawi, Namibia and Zimbabwe. This regional focus was particularly important considering that many of the challenges facing public service media are similar and require stronger regional cooperation, advocacy and shared approaches to reform.

The Symposium culminated in the adoption of the PSM Symposium Statement calling for a coordinated and sustained approach to strengthening public service media across Southern Africa. The Symposium Statement proposes a five-point plan focused on developing national public service media reform agendas, establishing effective advocacy models, strengthening strategic litigation and legal advocacy, as well as developing and strengthening mechanisms for regional collaborations and streamlined advocacy to strengthen public service media systems in Southern Africa. 

The symposium Statement is intended to serve as a living document that can be refined through continued engagement among stakeholders and used as a foundation for coordinated, action-oriented public service media advocacy and reform across the region.

The SOS Coalition believes that strengthening public service media requires more than addressing challenges within individual broadcasters. It requires sustained engagement with the policy, legal, regulatory, technological and financial framework in which public service media operate. 

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