CBMP Activities
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LIVE UP Spotlight:
COMMITTED MEMBERS FINDING CREATIVE WAYS TO LIVE UP
December 2008
Inaugural Executive Meeting and Journalism Training in Haiti Strengthens Commitments; Produces New Programs on Testing
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| Haiti Meeting & Panel Discussion | |
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| Haiti Meeting reviewing CECOSIDA report |
Haitian media executives and journalists renewed their commitments to improve national and regional programming about HIV/AIDS during meetings held November 11th-13th in Petionville, Haiti. Coordinated by the CBMP’s implementing partner in Haiti, Center for Communications on HIV/AIDS and Public Health (CECOSIDA), the journalism training and executive reception were the first major gatherings of the CBMP’s Haitian membership, which expanded to 17 members this year. While many participants have engaged with HIV/AIDS issues previously through CECOSIDA’s nearly ten years of vanguard work with media, this meeting established a new level of dedication and sense of opportunity based on the structure and resources of the CBMP.
Over three intensive days, a group of 20 reporters built skills to produce stories related to HIV-testing for World AIDS Day through site visits to testing centers; discussions with top national experts on statistics, ethics, and global funding agreements; an interview with a person living with HIV, and production workshops. The resulting short and long-form pieces will focus on conditions at voluntary counseling & testing (VCT) facilities, tracking patients for follow up, issues related to men who have sex with men (MSM), the role of the education sector and the national government response.
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| Mr. Marcorel Anselme |
An evening reception that continued late into the night, the Members & Partners Executive Meeting highlighted the programming supported by CBMP project awards in 2008, including a performance of "Down with Stigma" by Mr. Marcorel Anselme, the winner of the regional song competition conducted by Xaragua Radio. Guest speakers included representatives of Sogebank Foundation, the Ministry of Public Health and leading NGOs active in the response to HIV/AIDS in Haiti.
This is a great opportunity to share with media leaders and to reinforce their commitment in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Haiti", said Dr Emile H. Charles, Executive Director of the privately run Sogebank Foundation, which manages the Global Fund on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Haiti.
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| Haiti CBMP members and camera crew | |
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| Dr. Fritz Moise, President du Forum des SR |
It’s good to have this open meeting and to have direct access to some key resources and experts to answer our questions, and we also hope that these people will be available for us as often as possible", stated local journalist Tinerus Rineus from CBMP/CECOSIDA member Radio Imperial.
Veteran journalist Roosevelt Jean-Francois, acting President of CECOSIDA told Newswire that "this event has been an opportunity for CECOSIDA to prove its leadership in the Haitian media and also to take advantage of the worldwide experience of the Global Media AIDS Initiative. CBMP Executive Director, Dr. Allyson Leacock, participated actively in both events and stated, "The CECOSIDA team is a really closely knit team that pulls together to make everything work....even their driver. I think this will be one of our very effective partnerships with the potential to show startlingly positive results."
The CBMP’s activities in Haiti are supported with financial and technical support from the Global Media AIDS Initiative.
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| Caribbean journalists at the IAS conference training |
The 2008 International AIDS Society Conference in Mexico City proved to be the stomping ground for 16 excited and enthusiastic CBMP journalists who received CBMP Fellowships to participate in the conference and file daily reports back home to their stations. The CBMP and the Kaiser Family Foundation provided pre-conference training for the 16 successful CBMP/IAS Fellows, so that when the conference officially commenced they were more than equipped to handle daily reporting from a conference of immense magnitude. Some of the 2008 CBMP participants noted that this experience was indeed a life changing one
"As a young journalist it's the kind of experience you anticipate, dream and work hard towards. But, still when it comes, and comes so early in your Journalism career, it takes you by surprise. ….I learned how to report on HIV/AIDS in a very accurate, comprehensive and sensitive manner, that doesn't further add to the stigma and discrimination" noted Dwayne Berbick of Jamaica News Network (JNN). Berbick went on to note that "It's a life changing experience that…exposes you to a great opportunity for cultural exchange and personal development".
Gennike Mayers of the Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) in Trinidad, noted that although the sheer size of the conference had the potential to be quite overwhelming, the training more than prepared her to handle not only the conference, but reporting on HIV/AIDS in general.
"The training empowered me to do a whole lot more than LIVE UP features. I am confident that I will make a difference in the process of education and transformation needed in Trinidad & Tobago, thanks to the power of the media and the awesome sense of responsibility and empowerment I feel, coming out of the IAS Mexico experience," Mayers stated.
Namela Baynes-Henry of Hoyte Blackman TV Channel 9 (HBTV 9) in Guyana noted that often journalists are expected to report on HIV/AIDS without having been trained in analyzing the statistics. "No one had ever taken the time before to explain the use of statistics in that way, so for all of us in the training, this is an advantage in our reporting," she stated.
This experience of meeting other journalists helped me to realize that although we are a diverse group, we all have a commitment to what we do. And so, we should be a big part of behavioral change through our reporting," Baynes-Henry noted.
The Heroes Campaign takes a road trip!
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| LIVE UP Hero Corey Lane | |
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| LIVE UP Hero Alison Hinds | |
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| LIVE UP Hero Kerrel McKay |
The CBMP has taken its Heroes Campaign on a Roadshow in Jamaica and Barbados. The CBMP broadcast members in these territories got the opportunity to meet the LIVE UP Heroes of their island and to discuss the many ways that members can embrace and expand the Heroes Campaign. LIVE UP Heroes Corey Lane and Alison Hinds were on hand for the Barbados leg of the Roadshow while Jamaican LIVE UP Hero Kerrel McKay spoke with member stations in Jamaica about the positive role they can play in the Heroes Camapign.
Members readily embraced this initiative and committed to many projects and on air programmes which will help to boost the campaign in their broadcast communities. Mr. Vic Fernandes, Executive Director and CEO of Starcom Network in Barbados, lauded the efforts of the CBMP and noted that the LIVE UP Campaign has had a great impact on him as a broadcaster. While encouraging his staff to embrace the campaign he noted that his interaction with LIVE UP Champion, Ainsley Reid, in 2007 forever changed his life.
"It was the best and most important interview in my broadcasting career. The CBMP is playing a critical role in the broadcast media in the region. I am proud to be part of this and each of you must see LIVE UP as a platform for you to live up to your fullest potential as a broadcaster and citizen" he stated.
Members in St. Lucia, the Bahamas and Trinidad can look out for the Heroes Roadshow coming their way early in 2009. Remember to nominate a LIVE UP Hero at www.iliveup.com and the Heroes Roadshow may be coming your way next!
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| Mitzi Allen |
"It has perhaps been the most life changing workshop I have ever attended. I left the workshop feeling a lot of things, among them challenged and empowered. Apart from hearing the new statistics and what was happening and not happening in television as it relates to covering AIDS related issues, it became clear that if media practitioners are not part of the solution, then we are a part of the problem. I left the workshop with the intention of ensuring that the media in Antigua and Barbuda became responsible partners in the fight against HIV and not just pay it lip service."
This is a quote from Mitzi Allen's special video presentation, shown at the CBMP's second anniversary celebration and Executive Meeting in Havana, Cuba on August 26th, 2008. Allen, who is a host of "LIVE UP: The Show" and head of HAMA Productions (Antigua), shared more moving testimony on how the Partnership has inspired her station to take a more rigorous stance in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. She continues, "I felt more empowered than ever as the owner of a cable channel. I wasn't helpless against HIV. I had a powerful platform as a broadcast journalist and a media owner. It wasn't business as usual when I returned to Antigua and Barbuda. As producer and host of a news and current affairs radio programme, I used that programme as a platform for AIDS awareness and education. I sign off each broadcast reminding our audience to LIVE UP!"
Allen goes on to say, "this is the most important and meaningful media work I have done in my 25 years as a broadcast journalist". View full video.
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| Dr. Allyson Leacock interviews LIVE UP Hero Kerrel McKay at the CBMP Annual Executive Meeting in Havana Cuba |
CBMP members who attended the Annual Executive Meeting also got the first opportunity to view the new Heroes Campaign which was launched. Apart from a first view of the new Heroes PSAs, members were witness to a moving interview with LIVE UP Hero Kerrel McKay who took the time to remind members of the important role they play in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region.
"I work specifically now with young people and even though education is high, the media plays an integral role in the lives of many young people. I speak specifically from Jamaica and most of the young people I interact with are from inner cities and most times you find that they are from single parent homes. These young people basically grew up listening to the radio and watching the TV. This is where they get a lot of their parental information from and so I definitely think that people who work in the media have a very big role to play in terms of educating young people" Kerrel stated.
The CBMP third Annual Executive Meeting will be held in August 2009 so remember to look out for more information on this event and to book its date in your calendar!
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| Dominic Beaubrun |
Live Wire salutes the Caribbean New Media Group (CNMG) in Trinidad for showing 100% commitment in tracking their CBMP material. This dedication to tracking the materials aired, which forms part of the CBMP official commitment, indicates an admirable overall commitment to the Partnership. Chief Executive Officer of CNMG, Mr. Dominic Beaubrun, recently spoke with Live Wire about CNMG living up 100%:
- How easy or difficult is it for you to consistently produce 100% tracking as part of your CBMP commitment?
- It is easy to track results sent for television. CNMG’s traffic system is fully automated and allows for easy tabulation of the schedule, providing it is entered; it merges with our live on-air schedule.
- This dedicated level of tracking indicates CNMG's commitment to the CBMP and the LIVE UP Campaign. Would you say that the Campaign is resonating with your audience?
- We have had favorable telephone responses from our viewing audience. The ads provided allow us to schedule them in sync with the niche/format of the station. The response has been good.
- CNMG also recently took part in the CBMP/IAS Fellowship, by sending a reporter to Mexico to the AIDS2008 Conference. What are some of the benefits you see for CNMG by having a reporter participate in the conference and experience the pre-conference training?
- CNMG’s representative reported that the conference was very thought provoking and has recommended the need for decisive and committed action on the part of the media owner firstly for its staff, in the implementation of an HIV policy in the workplace and by extension to our national, regional and international audiences. Work has already begun on a series of television documentaries (5 minute duration) and ongoing radio documentaries.
- As a CBMP broadcast member what role do you see your station playing in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean?
- I see the station providing more public awareness of HIV/AIDS in its transmission, and how this disease affects everyone. We must have a proactive approach to sensitizing the public about HIV/AIDS.
- Will your station be undertaking any specific HIV/AIDS related projects in the near future?
- Through TALK CITY 91.1FM, one of our three radio frequencies, a formal link has been established with an experienced HIV awareness programme facilitator to provide content for the next 6 months. Material will be used to form part of programming on the stations.
© 2007 Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS