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

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.