M20 summit brings together media experts and civil society – Johannesburg, South Africa

The M20 Summit held in Johannesburg in September: Among our participants were Kara Ballarin (Die Rheinpflaz, Ludwigshafen), Anja Wehler-Schoeck (Tagesspiegel, Berlin), Zubeidah Kananu (Kenya Editors' Guild, Nairobi) and Gia Thom (Impress, London)

The M20 Summit bought together journalists, media experts and policy makers from across the globe

During the event Anja Wehler-Schoeck, Tagesspiegel, got interviewed by SABC

KAS Media Africa supports the SANEF and MMA initiative, the M20 Summit

With panels, Q&As and inputs the M20 summit addressed current challenges surrounding information integrity, media viability, Artificial Intelligence and journalists’ safety in the G20 context

Solly Malatsi, the Minister for Communications in South Africa, promises to take forward this initiative into the upcoming G20 discussions

Kara Ballarin (Die Rheinpflaz, Ludwigshafen) and Gia Thom (Impress, London), in the audience

Anja Wehler-Schoeck attended a panel discussion about assaults on journalists' safety, titled "Journalists and truth Under Attack"

German ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini, Andreas Peschke, attended the discussions during an ambassadors roundtable on shaping information integrity for a digital future

Zubeidah Kananu, President of the Kenya Editors' Guild, Nairobi, moderated a session on quickfire inputs on key issues for the information ecosystem on stage

Zubeidah Kananu, President of the Kenya Editors' Guild, Nairobi, during her interview with the SABC

The summit mapped out issues, which were summarised in the M20 Declaration at the end of the conference

What brings media makers, international stakeholders and ambassadors sit together? The M20 – the two-day conference on media and information integrity, which took place in Johannesburg from 1st to 2nd of September 2025. With panels, Q&As and inputs the M20 summit addressed current challenges surrounding information integrity, media viability, Artificial Intelligence and journalists’ safety in the G20 context. Topics covered included funding journalism as a public good, ensuring the safety of children as well as the rights of women, and the future of journalism in the digital age of artificial intelligence and mis- and disinformation. Valuable networking opportunities were provided during breaks and get-togethers.

The summit mapped out issues concerning the aforementioned topics, which were summarised in the M20 Declaration at the end of the conference. Regarding media viability, the approximately two hundred delegates declared that G20 nations have to establish funding models for independent media to fight the financial crisis facing journalism and ensure the health of democracy. With the world eagerly awaiting the G20 summit in November 2025 in Johannesburg, the conference called on G20 leaders to incorporate the key elements of the declaration into their deliberations.

We at KAS Media Africa were thrilled to support this initiative, organised by South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) and Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), and bring international perspectives into the room. For instance, among our participants were Anja Wehler-Schoeck (Tagesspiegel, Berlin) and Kara Ballarin (Die Rheinpfalz, Ludwigshafen) – both from Germany – as well as Gia Thom (Impress) from the United Kingdom and Zubeidah Kananu (Kenya Editors Guild). Kananu presented quickfire inputs on key issues for the information ecosystem on stage. Wehler-Schoeck attended a panel discussion about assaults on journalists' safety.