EJC launches Press Freedom 2.0 Bolivia

Maastricht - December 12, 2011

The European Journalism Centre on December 2, 2011, officially launched a five-year Dutch Foreign Ministry funded programme to support press freedom initiatives and improve training for journalists and journalism students in Bolivia.

The programme kick-off event, hosted in the capital La Paz by Asociación de Periodistas de La Paz, was timed to coincide with the launch of journalist training activities implemented by EJC programme partner, Fundación Para el Periodismo, which included an intensive three-day business news reporting training for 22 practising journalists and a Trainer for Trainers course, led by the Director of the Clarín Journalism Masters Programme in Buenos Aires, Mr. Miguel Wiñazki.

Bolivia is EJC’s second largest target country within the Press Freedom 2.0 portfolio. The programme will focus on the protection of journalists’ rights, media ethics, balanced and unbiased reporting, investigative and business news stories produced to the highest levels of journalistic standards in order to inspire both journalists, university faculty, media owners - and the public - to raise the bar on what constitutes professional reporting. The programme will support the development and launch of key press freedom-related campaigns and activities led by local partners.

“The European Journalism Centre has come to Bolivia to help fill a large void,” says, Renan Estenssoro, Executive Director of Fundación Para el Periodismo. “Bolivian journalists need to debate important issues such as freedom of expression, but we also need more training to improve our professional level in order to cover these issues responsibly and with professionalism. EJC’s assistance in this way will be fundamental.”

The EJC Bolivia programme will also develop regional exchange projects and work with sources of expertise and best practice from across the region, including the Clarín Journalism Masters Programme in Buenos Aires.

“Media development does not take place in a bubble and therefore EJC’s approach is to tackle issues facing media in the country in a multifaceted and open way,” says EJC Bolivia Country Manager, Melissa Rendler-Garcia, “and also by liaising regularly with other donors and partners working in this field in Bolivia at the regional and international level.”

The project is funded through the MFSII Programme of the Dutch Foreign Ministry in The Hague. It is part of a much broader global project entitled Press Freedom 2.0 that includes other Netherlands-based media partners such as World Press Photo, People on a Mission, Free Press Unlimited and European Partnership for Democracy, working in 11 countries on five continents.

“We are grateful to the European Journalism Centre for supporting press freedom and journalism training programmes in the country,” said Pedro Glasinovic, the President of Asociación de Periodistas de La Paz. “The best defense against attacks on press freedom is to offer journalism of the highest professional and ethical standards.”

 

Posted on December 12, 2011 by EJC
Filed under announcements.