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The Conversation is heading to Africa

The Conversation is an initiative that seeks to build a bridge between the work of academics and the rest of the world. All those currently working at an academic institution can publish an article on the site. The articles are edited so they are clear and concise, and they are available for anyone to republish the work for free.

The site was first launched in Australia in March 2011, the UK in May 2013 and the US in October 2014 — and it is on its way to Africa, with an initial base in Johannesburg, with plans to later expand into Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the South African National Research Foundation and the Miami-based Knight Foundation are funding the expansion. Wits University in Johannesburg is providing free office space.

The African site will go live in May, and will be managed by former Financial Mail editor Caroline Southey. The editorial team, also including deputy editor Jabulani Sikhakhane (communications director at the Treasury), Thabo Leshilo (former Sowetan and Business Times editor), Edwin Naidu and Natasha Joseph, will set the news agenda, commission work, liaise with academics and suggest ideas.

The Conversation editor Andrew Jaspan said, The launch of the African site is part of a long-term goal to create a global network of trusted content that draws on the expertise of academics and researchers worldwide to inform public debate, explain complex problems and collaborate on developing solutions.

The team will work with academics across Africa to bring informed expertise to a global audience. Once established, TC-Africa will also seek to launch hubs in Nairobi and Lagos. TC-Africa will work closely with the Australian, UK and US sites, sharing content and ideas.

TC-Africa will follow The Conversation’s strict editorial protocols that are designed to rebuild trust in information and help readers make informed decisions. These include a charter that protects editorial independence, protocols that give authors the right of final approval on all articles, and disclosure statements to alert readers to any potential conflict of interest.

And Journalism.co.za reports: Research surveys from the existing three Conversation website shows that 80 percent of the audience is not academic and more than 40 percent of the authors have had follow-ups from other media. More than 25,000 articles have been republished by 16,000 websites while The Conversation network reaches more than two million unique browsers a month.

Altogether, this could prove to be a significant development, given that historical attempts to achieve African development have been unsuccessful in the absence of direct input of the African people themselves — and at all levels — as vividly described in The World’s Banker by Sebastian Mallaby.

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