Regional and Multiannual Programmes » Selected projects
- Selected projects
Selected projects
South East Europe "Peace and democracy through regional cooperation between media, media organisations and media regulatory bodies in South East Europe" - Client: Danish MFA 1999-2003
The objectives were:
- to stimulate media legislation and implement regulation encouraging the development of editorially independent public service broadcasters and independent private broadcasters across the region.
- to facilitate establishment of regional networks of respectively national associations of local radios (SEENAPB) and national public broadcasters (TELESEE).
- to co-produce news features and documentaries and to exchange news rushes among the national public TV broadcasters by establishing ERNO. To exchange news features among the local radios across the region.
- to build the capacity of public managers and journalists through coaching co-productions and in-house training and to build the capacity of local radio journalists and managers through training-of-trainers programmes
A regional strategy was used to facilitate cooperation among media professionals across conflict boundaries. The intention was to develop professional relationships, which could facilitate sustainable programme cooperation across the region. In media policy, the regional approach made it clear that national problems were of a general character in the region, could be solved in cooperation and were not only the weakness of one government. To avoid that the participating broadcasters in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and Macedonia should perceive the project as an attempt to recreate Yugoslavia, also Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, and partly Greece, Hungary and Turkey were involved.
Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland "Build peace, stability and democracy through regional media collaboration between Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland, and help integration of the media industry into the EU" - Client: Danish MFA, Ministry of Culture, EU 1993-2003
The objectives were:
- to enhance the capacity of public and private media, public and private training institutions, as well as national and international media associations participating in the regional media network.
- to strengthen professionalism through regional and national training, and consultancy of management, editors, journalists and technicians
- to strengthen editorially independent media through networking for a democratic media policy, media legislation and codes of conduct and through creating acceptance of free media among politicians and government officials.
- to increase regional programme collaboration across the region, stimulate Russian-Baltic co-productions, strengthen capacity to sell and co-produce programmes and films with European partners.
- to build a documentary film and TV festival across the 9(10) countries surrounding the Baltic Sea to ensure better mutual understanding among directors and viewers across the region.
All perceived the Baltic Media Centre (BMC) on the island of Bornholm as a neutral meeting place. The centre had an advisory board with the General Directors of the public broadcasters in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the St. Petersburg region and Gdansk region, the national associations of private media and of independent producers.
All trainings of more than 3000 media professionals started at regional level at BMC and had equal participation from all five countries. Follow up was done nationally and mainly as on-the job training.
Co-production between the Baltic States and Russia was stimulated to ensure closer working relations, broadcast of balanced programmes covering all sides and better understanding of each other among the public.
Balticum Film & TV Festival was established for documentary directors from TV- and film industry in the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. Funding forums, trainings and professional workshops took place during the festival and stimulated increased cooperation across the potential conflict lines. Consultancies were offered in all countries to help formulate media legislation and regulation in accordance with democratic standards.
Sub-Saharan Africa "Regional Radio for Peacebuilding Project" - Client: Search for Common Ground, 2004-2010
The objectives were:
- to improve the quality and amount of positive radio broadcasting about conflict for African audiences,
- to encourage programming formats and tools which promote tolerance and understanding (undermining stereotypes, understanding positions/interests etc.);
- to alter the quality and type of information people receive through radio which then influences their behavior;
- to promote tolerance and understanding between different ethnic, religious, language groups.
After a decade of increasing violent conflict at the internal and trans-boundary level, a major push was considered necessary to generate interest in and understanding of peacebuilding techniques across the region that would reach a majority of broadcasters. As training per is ineffective in changing the professional behaviour of large groups of media professionals the project would have to create a "community" for discussion and debate about peacebuilding radio techniques to maximise its impact. Three guidebooks in English and French; a website in English, French, Swahili, and Hausa; and numerous exemplary radio programmes were produced in the project languages. The participants' self-declared behavioural change included more objective reporting, greater sensitivity to conflict, reduced sensationalism, and improved presentation skills.
Afghanistan "Good Morning Afghanistan. Re-establishing relationships between population groups across the country, support peace building and promotion of democracy" - Client: EU RRM, Danish MFA 2002-2004
The objectives were:
- to develop an independent public service programme - Good Morning Afghanistan (GMA) - providing humanitarian information and independent news broadcast on the public broadcaster,
- to provide a showcase for public service programmes and stimulate transformation of the state broadcaster.
The daily news programme started soft with humanitarian information and gradually developed into professional and sometimes critical journalism, independent but adapted to the vulnerable situation. Strict principles about hearing both sides in every story should demonstrate to political leaders that independent public service was useful, but not very dangerous. Each programme was produced and broadcast in two languages - Dari and Pashto to bridge the two major population groups. The programme was broadcast on Radio Afghanistan, under the authority of its Afghan Radio director, but protected by Baltic Media Centre (BMC) as overall responsible for the programme. The editor-in-chief of GMA and all staff was Afghan hired and paid by BMC. Radio Afghanistan should benefit from programmes attractive to the listeners and exchange of staff trained at GMA. Most of the time, a BMC-consultant supported the Afghan editor-in-chief in any political controversies. The exit strategy was to let the programme become integrated back into the RTA.