Supporting The Press Corps in Guinea-Bissau

What would happen if the press was paid by politicians and didn’t have access to job training?

• Journalists wouldn’t be able to report objectively for fear of upsetting political leaders and not receiving their monthly wages.

• . Journalists would also lack the type of training required to objectively report on certain issues while using a range of sources and their perspectives.

This is the press corps of Guinea-Bissau. Guinean journalists get about $20 per month and little professional training. The result is an inexperienced press corps that is vulnerable to political struggles, manipulation and misinformation – and a partially-informed public and national dialogue.

The Response

The International Peace and Prosperity Project (IPPP) spent more than a year facilitating trainings, workshops and follow-up programs for local journalists and gave out $10,000 in grants to local journalists to objectively cover the 2005 presidential elections.

Prior to the final round of the 2005 Presidential Elections, the Citizens Goodwill Task Force, one of BEFORE’s local partners in Guinea-Bissau, gathered journalists who were paid by presidential candidates. Grants were given to journalists covering the elections on the spot. This was so successful and added such value that the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) took over this grant-making during the 2008 Legislative Elections.

In March 2007, the international NGO Search for Common Ground and the IPPP designed and facilitated a three day workshop for more than 20 journalists on ‘Reporting in Conflict Settings.’ Participants were introduced to a variety of tools for conflict analysis and neutral reporting.

Six months later Reseau Liberte, an organization that specializes in developing independent press in new democracies, was commissioned to deliver an investigative journalism workshop.

Finally, in April 2008 grants were given to the local Union of Journalists and Technicians of Social Communication (SINJOTECS) to hold a one-day media conference. There conference participants reviewed and adopted the West African Standardized ECOWAS/WAJA Framework Collective Agreement (SEWFCA). The agreement has helped establish a collective labor contract with public and private media employers.

The Outcome
While freedom of press still has a ways to grow in Guinea-Bissau, most people interviewed in a 2008 program evaluation feel that public dialogue is more open and less restrictive. Today the local press reports and investigates previously taboo subjects, even government and military corruption.