A. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION

Transcription

1 ETHIOPIA A. PROJECT IDENTIFICATION 1. PROJECT TITLE TRAINING FOR BROADCASTING JOURNALISTS ON ELECTION REPORT 2. NUMBER IPDC/54 ETH/01 3. CATEGORY OF MASS MEDIA Radio and television 4. IPDC PRIORITY AREA Human resource development Freedom of expression SCOPE (NATIONAL, REGIONAL, INTERREGIONAL) TYPE OF ASSISTANCE REQUESTED National Training and equipment 7. TOTAL COST OF PROJECT US$ AMOUNT REQUESTED FROM IPDC US$ BENEFICIARY BODY 10. IMPLEMENTING OFFICE Ethiopia Radio and Television Agency (ERTA) wagaye_b@yahoo.com Contact: Wagaye Bekele, Addis Ababa UNESCO Cluster Office, Addis Ababa Contact Person : Paul G. C. Hector, Advisor for CI in the Horn of Africa 11. PROJECT LOCATION Addis Ababa 12. PROJECT PREPARED BY Wagaye Bekele, Deputy Director of the Educational and Training Centre of the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency First Consult PLC Paul G. C. Hector Advisor for CI in the Horn of Africa DECISION OF THE BUREAU 46

2 B. PRESENTATION 1. PROJECT JUSTIFICATION Most assessments conducted on the 2005 election in Ethiopia identified unbalanced reporting as a contributing factor to the resulting conflicts. Virtually, all observers of Ethiopian history and politics agreed that current political events could not be isolated from the historical context. The diversity of the Ethiopian people and the strong links to their history and culture are reflected in the presence of traditions in contemporary life. At the same time however, Ethiopia is still said to be a new Ethiopia in the making. The period since the change of government in 1991 is a watershed in the history of Ethiopian media. In this period, pre-publication censorship was outlawed, as well as the institutions that regulated the publication and free circulation of the press. Mass media ownership, which had been monopolised by the government and its political party for several years, was permitted to private citizens with the exception of television, which remains under government control. Under the Ministry of Information licensing and Registration Office, more than 630 newspapers have been licensed and 130 magazines published. Currently, more than 10 private and regional FM radio stations have started broadcasting. While these tangible signs of increasing press freedom are encouraging, much remains to be done on the human resource side of the media industry to build capacity and professionalism. Although various local and international partners have made progress, it is felt that efforts to enhance the media professionals skills, particularly in reporting on election issues, have so far proven inadequate. Thus, this project is timely in seeking support to provide training for both public and private journalists to overcome the lack of balanced and quality election coverage observed in previous elections, and which contributed to the conflict. This training for the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency will enable it to provide improved electoral coverage in the upcoming 2010 Federal elections. Enhancing its staff capacity will support ERTA in fulfilling its mission of promoting exchange of public views and opinions, improving access to information, thereby furthering and advancing democratic principles, participation and good governance. In addition, it is likely that improved media coverage could serve to reduce the potential for conflict. 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE TARGET GROUP This project targets 80 public and private broadcast journalists who will be directly engaged in reporting on the upcoming 2010 national election. The participants will be selected in collaboration with the Ethiopian Journalists Association and the School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University. 3. DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE The training will contribute to disseminating a plurality of views and opinions in the media, and informing and educating the public about relevant issues (like election and the reduction of the conflict threaten). 4. IMMEDIATE OBJECTIVES 80 journalists trained to report on the upcoming election of the 2010 by acquiring knowledge and developing skills aligned with internationally recognised standards of conduct. 47

3 5. PROJECT OUTPUTS 80 trained media professionals capable of applying their skills in election reporting and programme production; Training materials for the media. 6. ACTIVITIES The training will be conducted in four sessions, each with 2-week duration and 20 trainees. It will be held in Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency Training Centre premises. 7. PROJECT INPUTS Course materials; Projectors; PCs; Renting of 2 laptop computers for the 15-day training; Stationery materials; Printing equipment for the Certificate; Project Coordinator; A Consultant to evaluate and monitor the project implementation and analyse the training impact; 4 trainers / instructors; 3 professionals from the Ethiopia Radio and Television Agency, Ethiopian Journalists Association and Addis Ababa School of Journalism and Communication at Addis Ababa University to produce the training materials. 8. WORK PLAN ACTIVITIES Approval of the project proposal Selection of instructors, trainers and consultants Selection of training equipment Collection and organization of training documents Preparation of the training materials and modules Selection of participants and notification Training sessions Certification and closing Evaluation and monitoring Submission of reports MONTHS INSTITUTIONAL FRAME The Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency was established in 1935 and 1964 respectively, with the objective of informing, educating and entertaining the public. ERTA, which was a government media, is now in the process of becoming a public broadcasting media service. To reflect this change, ERTA is changing its organizational structure to a Corporation, to become the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC). The undergoing transformation will enable the organization to 48

4 have a better editorial and management independence. The cessation of the current government subsidy will also make the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation financially independent of the government and stimulate its efforts to generate income from license and other fees. At present, the EBC has 475 informative / journalists, 388 technical and 973 supporting staffs. Most of the journalists received their basic education locally and both short and long-term training. Since the EBC keeps its broadcast space with timely and rapidly changing issues to cope with the increasing changes in the industry, in particular in human resource development, the EBC has established its own Educational and Training Centre. 10. SUSTAINABILITY Ethiopian Radio and Television expects this project to be sustained in cooperation with the Education and EBC Training Centres curriculum as a regular and permanent programme. Final evaluation report is likely to provide a future direction on the impact and sustainability of the programme. 11. FRAMEWORK OF MONITORING The representatives of the Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, the Ethiopia Journalist Association and the Addis Ababa University School of Communication and Journalism will form a Coordination Office for the training performed in the premises of the Training Centre. The activities will be monitored by assessing the training and by taking the feedback from the trainees into account. Minutes of Coordinator s Office will also be used for compiling the monitoring reports. The monitoring indicators are the number of training participants, the number of hours covered by the programme, and the type and number of feedbacks from the trainees and the trainers. 12. EVALUATIONS CARRIED OUT In addition to the monitoring and follow-up recordings, there will be an assessment of the training programme at the end of the project implementation, followed by a final evaluation and an impact analysis. It is expected that the evaluation will provide both the project implementer and the funding Agency with information on sustainability and continuation of the programme. This entails that the project implementer could develop the insight to sustain the project from its own source and/or deliberates, and this may change the approach of the project in the future. 13. FRAMEWORK OF BENEFICIARY AGENCY S REPORTING The Coordination Office, together with First Consult, will prepare progress and financial reports to the UNESCO Office at the end of the project implementation period. Wagaye Bekele, Deputy Director of Educational and Training Centre of Ethiopian Radio and Television Agency, will prepare all monitoring and financial reports. Moreover, the training sessions will be recorded for submission to UNESCO as documentation. C. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Previous support received by the country PDC/4ETH/ ETH ETH ETH-91 31,000 45,000 43,000 Ethiopia Establishment of mass media training centre

5 PDC/10ETH/ ETH ,000 PDC/15ETH/ ETH-51 27,500 PDC/16ETH/ ETH ,000 PDC/21 ETH/ ETH-5011 PDC/48 ETH/ ETH ,000 12,000 PDC/49 ETH/ ETH ,000 (FIT-Japan) PDC/51 ETH/ ETH ,000 PDC/51 ETH/ ETH ,000 Establishment of community radio stations Assistance to the women's monthly magazine "Gennet" Mass media Training Centre Human capacity building of the Ethiopian mass media training institute FM-radio support as an integral part for radio journalism program trainings at the EMMTI CREATING AWARENESS IN FIGHTING HIV/AIDS ETHIOPIA: KORE COMMUNITY RADIO ETHIOPIA: STRENGTHENING THE EDUCATIONAL CHILDREN S TELEVISION PROGRAM TSEHAI LOVES LEARNING Total Ethiopia: US$ 563, ,000 FIT D. BUDGET BREAKDOWN OF IPDC CONTRIBUTION (in US dollars) Qty Unit price Total Participants accommodation/subsistence (15 days 4 sessions): 20 pers trainers : 60 days Training materials: laptops rental: TOTAL: BREAKDOWN OF THE BENEFICIARY S CONTRIBUTION (in US dollars) Staff costs (10 persons 60 days): Project Coordinator (2 months): Training aids: desktops, overhead projector: 200 Renting of premises: 100 TV and radio studios for production: 200 Utilities: 500 Project reporting: 100 TOTAL: