I s s u e  13 -   M A Y,  2 0 0 0
 

Lauching a Second Wave of Support to Community Radio
A Neibourhood with big enimies of journalist
A Positive Evalutation of the Process Coach
Getting Volunteers Trained
Workshops with CC groups

LAUNCHING A SECOND “WAVE” OF SUPPORT TO COMMUNITY RADIO .
A major national meeting with participants from several civic organizations seeking support for the establishment of community radio initiatives is being organized by the Media Project for 10 and 11 May in Maputo. Delegates for the meeting will be coming from five organizations or communities, selected by the Media Project in consultation with an independent selection board, for support to the establishment for new community radio stations throughout the country.
The five projects were selected from a total of 18 proposals submitted by different civic organist ions and other private institutions. A large number of other organizations were also elected for institutional support and will take in the meeting, including community-oriented radio stations “on air”.
The selected project proposals were submitted by the following organizations: Amanhecer-Coop for Metangula, ASSERCO for Dondo, PSZ for Milange, the UGC for Bagamoyo (Maputo Surrounding) and Linga dos Escuteiros for Matola, Maputo province. Institutional support will also be discussed with a number of other civic organizations and some community-oriented radio stations already “on air”.

A NEIBOURHOOD WITH “BIG ENEMIES” OF JOURNALISTS
This year UNESCO chose for World Press Freedom Day, on May 3, the theme “Media in Conflict and Post Conflict Areas”. By selecting, UNESCO envisaged to encourage the world to reflect on how to combat war and hatred propaganda without undermining press freedom and editorial independence of the media. In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists released a list of ten political and militar leaders in the world, considered as the “worst enemies of journalists”. The list includes President Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola and is headed by another African political figure, Foday Sankon, former leader of the war devasted Sierra Leone.
On its side, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) says in its annual sixth report released on 3 May that during 1999 no less than 40 media workers in eleven SADC countries under review were detained, from varying lengths of time, ranging from few hours to several weeks. At least 18 journalists were sentenced either to prision terms or fines as a result of their work, the report says. Two Angolan media workers wre murdered during 1999. Singling out Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe, MISA Researcher Raashied Galant, points out that these three countries led the pack in the use of brute force censorship over the media in the region

A Positive Evaluation of the Process Coach
The Media Project is strongly considering extending the contracts signed with the coaches who have been co-ordination training and organizational activities with community radio volunteers in Cuamba, Homoíne and Chimoio.
The decision was taken as a result of a positive analysis of what the Media Project Management Team found to be a sui generis
Experience, in a mid-term evaluation of the process.
The Project considered the process coach as having proved to be an adequate methodology allowing an active and effective involvement of the communities in the process of installation of the their Community Radios.
Having this positive evaluation in mind, the Project is now considering the possibility of enlarging the process coach to the 5-8 new communities about to enter the Community Radio “family” during the coming second “wave”.
 Getting Volunteers Trained
Final arrangements are now underway preparing a national training course of volunteers on “Community Radio Programming and Programme Production”.
The course is scheduled for May 22 to June 2 in Beira, and will involve a total of 15 participants, plus the three coaches, who were directly involved in an initial phase of training activities, carried locally with the communities.
The volunteers were selected from larger numbers in the three communities chosen by the Media Project in Homoíne, Chimoio and Cuamba.
The coaches, who have already been with the volunteers during the above-mentioned initial training activities with the communities, are expected to play decisive roles, both as resource people and in the coordination of the practical side of the course.
Five volunteers will be selected from each one of the above-mentioned three communities.
Main subjects to be tackled during the two week course will include: Community Radio Programming, Community news gathering processing and disseminating, cultural magazines, media laws and ethics.

Workshops with CC groups
The Media Project is organizing a 2 days workshops with the Communication Centre (CC) groups in Beira.
The workshop results from suggestion by the groups themselves, during a mission visit to Beira and Chimoio, paid by the Chief Technical Adviser last March.
The workshop is expected to give chance for the groups to exchange experiences on the installation process of the CC, including the legal procedures for the establishment of local Media Operators Associations, a co-ordinates framework among the different media initiatives.
The meeting will also discuss a manual on the CC management and practical procedures, produced by the Media Project, as well as training activities and administrative routines.
The CC’s were established in Beira, Chimoio and Tete. They have mainly been conceived as production centers for the emerging independent press, ‘newsrooms’ for correspondents from print media elsewhere in the country, spaces for formal as well as informal training activities for journalists, a documentation center with access to internete, a distribution point for the locally produced newspapers and those from elsewhere, and other activities related.

Media Development Project c/o UNESCO, P.O.Box 1397 Maputo, Mozambique
Tel. + 258.1. 498752/ 490840 Fax +258.1.498717 E-mail: unesco@mediamoz.com