CRC ENGAGES THE MEDIA ON CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW REPORTING Background According to the Project Document of the Constitutional Review Programme of Sierra Leone, one of the baseline indicators is to encourage the media to responsibly report on constitutional issues, to that end, a constitution making training should be provided for journalists, editors, media house executives with a focus on ethical, objective and conflict sensitive reporting. In view of the above, a day’s workshop was organized by the Sierra Leone Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) Secretariat in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with the aim of providing the requisite skills, knowledge and attitudes to media practitioners to efficiently and effectively report on the constitutional review process. The workshop participants were drawn from print and electronic media houses, staff of the Secretariat, members of the CRC and UNDP. Proceedings During the opening session, statements were made by the UNDP Country Director, the Chairman of CRC, and the Executive Secretary. This was followed by a technical presentation by the CTA on the topic: Democratic Constitution-Making, The Role of the Media in the Constitution Making Process. In his presentation, he highlighted some good and bad constitutional processes in different parts of the world. This was followed by thematic presentations and parallel group work/discussions. • Statements UNDP Deputy Country Director Mohammad Abchir opened the event with a speech that highlighted the integral role that the media plays in a democracy and its responsibility to the public. Following on from this the CRC Chairman, Justice Edmond Cowan, gave an address, which appealed to journalists to use their platform and knowledge to make the constitutional review process inclusive of the Sierra Leone population and in this way improve the lives of the people. CRC Secretary, Augustine S. Sheku, used his speech to highlight the progress of the CRC since its inception and gave a broad overview of its composition. Sana Baloch followed this by presenting on democratic constitution making and the role of the media in the constitution making process. By using relevant examples, the subject matter was presented clearly, as was the broader outline of CRC activities to take place in the coming months. Isaac Massaquoi covered the area of episodic and thematic media coverage during the CRC process. Both were highlighted as essential for the media to cover, with specific warning given to journalists to not fall into the easy trap of failing to report thematically. The context and situation as a whole is important to convey as day by day news events. This will lead people to a more in depth and broader understanding of the issues being covered. Orla Kelly presented on HR and Constitution making The role of the media in human rights sensitive constitution making was discussed by Orla Kelly. Her presentation detailed human rights and the opportunity the CRC process provides to improve the constitution from a human rights perspective. By highlighting Sierra Leonean and international human rights laws, she clearly outlined the human rights areas where journalism could help stir debate to improve the constitution in this regard. Elizabeth Solomon used her journalistic background to discuss conflict sensitive reporting for the preservation of peace. Reflecting on her own experience and study, she spoke of the impact the press can make in destabilising peace and the risk of inciting violence through irresponsible reporting. Tonya Musa a Senior Lecturer in the Mass Communications Department at Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, in his presentation on the topic, The Media and the Constitutional Review Process in Sierra Leone; highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing the media in relation to the CR process. His deep knowledge of the media in Sierra Leone shone through as he described the “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Sierra Leoneans to improve their lives through the reviewing of the constitution. Tonya Musa presented on the Role of Media The participants were divided into groups ranging from 1-5. Group 1 dealt, with State Policy and Human Rights, Group 2 deals with the Legislature; Group 3 deals with the Judiciary; Group 4 the Local Government and other ancillary branches of government. Under the heading ‘Ethical, Objective and Conflict Sensitive Participants at the Workshop Reporting the groups framed up themes, media activity, organizations/institutions date/place, engagement with CRC thematic committee and the engagement strategy. Specially designed constitutional review bags were distributed to participants to aid their reportage on the constitutional review process in Sierra Leone. CONCLUSION The media workshop was successful because a good number of participants expressed satisfaction on the topics, deliberations, group work, but recommended that similar trainings be provided for them in future. The media practitioners reported the outcome of the engagement in their various media outlets. The session was concluded with a group photo.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:31:26 +0000
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