Flow programmers, writers and designers came together to produce a website for Support our SABC (SOS), a coalition that is committed to, and campaigns for, public broadcasting in the public interest.
The Support Public Broadcasting website
SOS is focused on fighting for quality public broadcasting in South Africa and includes a broad range of non-governmental and charity-based organisations, trade unions and federations, and individuals, including academics, activists, policy and legal consultants, actors, scriptwriters, filmmakers, producers and directors
While the SABC is its primary focus, the Coalition also looks at community media.
The coalition has already delivered a number of petitions to the SABC, both in Cape Town and Johannesburg, aimed at persuading them to amend their policies and pay their producers.
I welcomed this project with both hands. What resonated most with me was how individuals were banding together for what they believed in.
As the second project I have had to manage content-wise, the SOS site was a bit overwhelming.
But together with project manager Janet Berger and head programmer Richard Frank, I managed to pull it off in true Flowstar style.
I was briefed on what content was needed and the work began. I loved the design of the website – it is fresh and was easy to work with.
The hard part was just putting the campaigns in the correct categories (each has its own section).
The website is packed with great features, like a library of documents, which includes SOS submissions to the SABC, as well as bills and discussion papers from across the years. Each item is categorised, making the feature user-friendly and accessible.
There is also an events page where members can find out where and when to attend marches, protests or public talks in support of or related to SOS.
SOS was designed by Flow’s graphic designer Lorraine Gumede, asked about the site she said. “I really enjoyed working on the site. The design was clean yet effective, there are no bells and whistles on the site it really communicates what SOS stands for and I am so proud of that.”
The finished product made me proud. When a website comes together, you can really see how everyone’s hard work has paid off.
Let’s hope the same applies to SOS and its members. If you’d like to check out their site and support their work, visit www.supportpublicbroadcasting.co.za