By Politico Staff Writer
Officials from the Ministry of Information and Civic Education from Sierra Leone have joined seven other countries to participate in a three-week media training with the title, “The Role of Media in Democratic Countries” held in Tokyo, Japan.
The training which commenced on the 9th of November this year was organized by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Centre in Japan and implemented by NHK Foundation.
Participants from other countries like Cote D’Ivoire, Maldives, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sabia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Ukraine partake in the training that is aimed at understanding the role of media especially that of Public Service Broadcasting from its participants.
The training also aimed at sharing the Japanese experience with participating countries on institutional building for functional improvement and the human resources development system of media.
In his welcome statement, Former Secretary-General, of Public Broadcasters International (PBI) and Former Director-General, of NHK World, Mr. Toshiyuki Sato explained that the objective of the course is to provide and update participants’ professional skills and knowledge on the rapidly changing landscape of the media.
He also gave a brief overview of how radio was an influential media and suitable for uniting nations since its invention. He was quoted saying, “Broadcast service has helped evolve and flourish the development of mass society in the West he added.”
Mr. Toshiyuki Sato further lamented that “what has been, or sad to say “was”, a century of broadcasting: Broadcasting reflected the times, and the times were influenced by broadcasting. It was a part of culture, but we feel that its place is being eroded by the new digital media”.
He also pointed out that most countries have public broadcasters that are now identified as public service media. This change he explained implies that its services are not only limited to broadcasting; they have changed their policy to include new services on the Internet. Such changes are happening not only in broadcasting but also in different media industries like newspaper publishing and wire services in the world, he added.
Mr. Sato noted that media regulators and media-related government officials also face similar and corresponding changes and are forced to draw new policies and take different attitudes. “We would like you to share the idea of the rapid changes of media and bring it back home to meet the challenges” he encouraged the participants.
The Public service media he explained keeps some advantages over new media; therefore participating countries must set up their strategy for the survival of their respective services. It is essential for democracy to have sound public service and hence learning about the rapid changes in media, let us find a way to our future, he concluded.
The Acting Director of Government Information Services in the Ministry of Information and Civic Education, Mr. Emmanuel A.B. Turay on Monday 13th November 2023 presented an inception report on “The Problems/Challenges confronting the media sector and proffered ideas of overcoming those challenges in Sierra Leone.
According to Turay, at the end of the training, participants will present their respective country action plans based on their experience in Japan. This action plan which is expected to be rolled out in our respective countries, should include clear goals, timelines, and expected outputs among other issues, he concluded. The three-week training ends on the 24th of November 2023.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (15/11/23)
