Sierra Leone is among eight countries around the world participating in this year’s three-week course on “The Role of Media in Democratic Countries” organized by the JICA Center in Japan and implemented by the NHK Foundation.
The training, which attracted Cote D’Ivoire, Maldives, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Serbia, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Ukraine, is aimed at not only understanding the role of media, especially that of Public Service Broadcasting from its participants but it is 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 an update on participants’ professional skills and knowledge on the rapidly changing landscape of media.
He also gave a brief overview of how radio was an influential media and suitable for uniting nations since its invention. 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 disclosed 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 stated 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 added. 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.
“Democracy needs 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 for overcoming these challenges in Sierra Leone. According to Acting Director Turay, at the end of the training, participants will present in 15 minutes 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.
