RSF makes proposals for improving press

The international media rights defender, Reporters sans frontieres, has sent proposals to Ivorian authorities on ways to improve the Ivorian media following a recent mission to the country aimed at taking stock of the role and impact of the media. RSF said in a news release this week that it had addressed its proposals to President Laurent Gbagbo, Prime Minister Seydou Diarra and designated communication minister Guillaume Soro after conducting an evaluation mission from 7-11 April of the role of the media, in particular the role it has played since the beginning of the Ivorian crisis. The recommendations were also based on discussions held with journalists and other professionals of the news industry. According to RSF, the first priority of the current authorities should be the strengthening of the National Observatory of Press Freedom and Journalism Ethics (French acronym OLPED) so that it can play a more active role in ensuring that there is a free press which can work without fear within established journalism rules. Except for financial assistance, RSF did not specify how the OLPED should be strengthened. Made up of journalists, the observatory is best known for its periodic lists of news articles that violate media ethics. RSF also proposed the creation of a national journalism prize to incite journalists towards more professionalism. However RSF also noted that the lack of professionalism was linked in part to a lack of training and apprenticeship in the media field. "Most of the young reporters have diplomas in communication and marketing but never received any specific training in journalism. A former official of a state media explained that these reporters were not even trained to write news briefs," RSF wrote in its news release. However what is the purpose of organising workshops and seminars when journalists themselves say they serve no purpose? "Journalists participate in workshops and seminars just to collect a per diem and change nothing to their way of writing", RSF was told. Another recommendation was the creation of a fund that media organisations could benefit from. However any allotment of the media fund should be conditioned on respect and adherence to ethics. According to RSF, the OLPED should be closely associated to this initiative. The Paris-based organisation also urged a monitoring of state-run media, at times accused of "hate speech", to render them more democratic and open to different political sensibilities.