An organisation representing the interests of South African journalists was launched in Johannesburg today. The Professional Journalists' Association of South Africa was launched in Newtown. It adopted a constitution that calls for  continued freedom of speech and of information gathering. It also promotes ethical and balanced reporting among the organisation's members and another goal is the protection of working journalists.

"The organisation was founded because professional journalists saw a need for a body to represent the nation's working journalists, following the dissolution of the SA Union of Journalists three years ago," said Foster Dongozi, the president of  the regional Southern African Journalists' Association. "While several trade unions do represent journalists' interests, none represent their professional concerns directly," he said.

Brainstorm magazine editor Samantha Perry was appointed the first general secretary of the organisation while Beauregard Tromp became acting treasurer and Michael Schmidt acting administrative secretary.-Sapa