Independent Media has launched a new publication which will focus on labour, jobs and the political economy. Planned as a quarterly release, the aim of Independent World of Work is to create debates around key societal issues and to identify and nurture lasting solutions. Michael Bratt reports.
Independent Media says the topic of labour was chosen as “it is among the most important areas driving the economy and impacting the policy environment, social relations and determining the choices of key political and other actors”.
Group labour editor and Independent World of Work founding editor, Amy Musgrave, says, “labour has tended to get shoddy treatment in South African newsrooms as budgets shrink and human resources are stretched. We want to buck this trend.”
The inaugural edition launched on Thursday, which was included as a free insert in all the group’s morning papers, explores the broad social compact which is the foundation of the post-1994 South African economic structure. It aims to answer the question of whether the compact, which has cracked, can be realigned to suit new conditions.
Independent Media executive chairman Iqbal Survé commented on the new supplement saying, “Our country needs investment and growth, sharing of ideas and respecting the positions of all stakeholders. Independent World of Work is the first platform in the media landscape to achieve this.”
The launch was planned to coincide with Workers’ Day happening on 1 May.
IMAGE: Amy Musgrave, Dr Iqbal Surve and labour minister Mildred Oliphant at the launch of World of Work.
