M20 Summit Kicks Off, Pressuring G20 on Media Integrity

The M20 Summit, an self-reliant event running alongside the G20 program in south Africa, begins Monday.It aims to spotlight crucial media, journalism, and facts integrity issues.

Organizers are optimistic about the summit’s potential. “Even if the G20 continues to ignore media, we already consider the international interest in convincing the G20 to consider the role of media a success,” says convenor Izak Minnaar of the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef).

Participation is already exceeding expectations, according to Minnaar. Leading representatives from global media, freedom of expression groups, and information integrity organizations have contributed their expertise to develop policy briefs – the core of the M20 initiative.

The initiative is organized by Sanef and Media Monitoring Africa. They noticed a notable omission: “There was no reference to the role of media in G20 economies; on the future-proofing of journalism or, in fact, on information integrity as a whole,” explains Minnaar.

“It was especially surprising because not even the references in the global compact of the role of media in supporting media integrity appeared on the South African G20 agenda,” Minnaar added. The M20 seeks to change that.