By A.V.M for Hilltopvoices Team in Kribi
A two day
workshop organised by United Nations Educational, Scientific and CulturalOrganisation (UNESCO) for political desk editors of newspapers and online
platforms has ended in Kribi South region of Cameroon.
The workshop which focused
on election as an important step and moment in the consolidation of a democracy
of a country permitted UNESCO the National Communication Council NCC and desk
editors to reflect on better ways of reporting elections in Cameroon.
Here are the
notes from Our Rep:
This key
moment begins before the elections and continues during and after the elections
At each
phase of this process, citizens have an essential need for accurate and
verified information to understand the political and social issues and to make
informed decision. They need to be able to hear their voices and concerns, so
that they are taken into account by those who wish to represent them.
For this
purpose, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) in partnership with the Cameroon Political Desk Editors and with the
support of the Ministry of Communication and the National Communication Council
(NCC), organized a 2 days workshop that held from the 8th to 9th of May in
Kribi. This workshop was funded by the Peace Building Fund and was attended by
30 participants.
Opening words were presented by the
President of the Cameroon Political Desk Editors, Rodrigue Tongue in which
he spoke about editorial approaches in
terms of peaceful journalism, peaceful media coverage and fight against hate
speech. Jean Roland Onana also gave a word as a representative of UNESCO in
which he explained that the objective of the workshop is linked to the
objective of the "Peace Building
Fund" which is to creat in Cameroon
an environment in which women, young people and other vulnerable groups are better
incorporated into the electoral process, citizens should be informed on
the expectations of the electoral
process and peaceful mechanisms be set up for resolving electoral
disputes.
Resources persons were experts from partner institutions,
UNESCO and those with mastery of issues
related to media regulation and communication.
Presenters
in the likes of Prof. Daniel Anicet Noah, Mr Frédéric Bernard, Mr Alain Mbeze,
and Mr George Alain Boyomo did presentations on topics such as; Basic
principles for Media and elections, Media standards during elections, Media,
internet and spread of hate speeches. Participants were called upon to exercise
maturity and honesty during election coverage and to avoid propagating hate
speech , that journalists should not encourage hate speech by publishing it on
paper nor on the internet rather they should be able to counteract it.
The
presentations were conducted interactively and emphasis were made on practical
cases. Participants shared their experiences on dealing with hate speech in
their various media organs and it was unanimously agreed that most printed
media should have an online presence so that verified content published online
can better enlighten the population.
At the end
of the 2 days workshop, 30 recommendations were adopted for the full
development and viability of the media and journalists.