The 2026 Africa Media Convention (AMC) will take place at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia, on May 5, within the framework of this year’s World Press Freedom Day celebrations under the theme: “Shaping a future at peace: Towards safe, sustainable, and trusted journalism.”
Organized as a side event during the WPFD Global Conference, the Convention will be hosted by the AMC Steering Committee, which is chaired by Mr. Churchill Otieno, President of The African Editors’ Forum (TAEF), in collaboration with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the African Union Commission (AUC), the Network of Independent Media Councils in Africa (NIMCA), the M20 and other partners.
The Convention is designed to address the multifaceted challenges confronting African journalism and systematically build the necessary foundational pillars for its future. Its specific objectives are to:
• Develop a continental roadmap for media sustainability by advancing practical, Africa-led strategies that move media organisations beyond fragile funding models toward diversified, resilient, and commercially viable operations;
• Confront the growing use of laws, such as sedition, criminal defamation, and broadly framed “false information” provisions, to restrict press freedom, and promote safeguards that protect independent journalism;
• Shape Africa’s digital future for media and journalism by accelerating the adoption of innovative technologies, platforms, and business models that strengthen the competitiveness, reach, and relevance of African media in a rapidly evolving digital environment;
• Strengthen collaborative responses to disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information, ensuring citizens’ access to credible, verified, and public-interest journalism; and
• Consolidate AMC’s strategic focus, clarify member/stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and reinforce its institutional linkages with the African Union to enhance coherence, legitimacy, and long-term impact.
A cornerstone of the gathering is the reinforcement of democratic accountability and oversight, which media stakeholders will seek to achieve by strengthening the rule-of-law as it pertains to press freedom and by shining the spotlight on critical failures in justice systems.
Specifically, the AMC plans to tackle the pervasive issue of when journalists expose corruption, but justice fails.
By addressing this culture of impunity, the convention aims to reinforce the bedrock of accountability and oversight that is fundamentally required for the establishment and maintenance of stable, just, and ultimately peaceful African societies.
Members of the second Steering Committee of the AMC will be elected as the final activity of the event.
The organisations which constitute the first and current AMC Steering Committee are: TAEF, Women in News (WIN) of the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA); the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), Eastern Africa Editors Society (EAES), Article 19, Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Namibia Media Trust (NMT), the AUC, and UNESCO.
