Second edition of the GFMD Insider
03.07.09Dear friends and colleagues,
We are halfway through 2009 and we have a lot of progress to show for it. We are about to publish the second edition of the GFMD Insider. We hope it is filled with the kind of intelligent columns and reports that will help you do your job better. This edition will go only to GFMD members. If you have not signed up yet, please fill out the GFMD membership application at http://app.formassembly.com/forms/view/82788 so that you can have access to the GFMD Insider.
The second edition includes articles about a May meeting of media development donors in Washington, an interview with Ivar Evensmo of the Norwegian International Development Agency, tips on conducting media development surveys and many more excellent subjects.
The GFMD steering committee met in Baghdad and in Oslo. We held a most productive, daylong session to come up with a plan of action. Some members will be gathering data for our interactive map of media development programs around the world. Others are coming up with a code of practice for GFMD members. And still others plan to represent GFMD at key meetings.
We are starting to gather information for the GFMD media development map, that will showcase the work of our members around the world. If you want your programs to be included on the map, please join the GFMD.
Of course, a key GFMD goal is to lobby for more investment in independent media. Bettina and I had the opportunity to talk with the Norwegian and Swedish government funders when we were in Oslo. They were a receptive group eager to learn more about GFMD and our initiatives. After Norway, Bettina and I went to Copenhagen, Denmark to meet with government funders there. A big thank you to Jesper Hojberg and Lotte Dahlmann of International Media Support (IMS), who set up valuable meetings at the Foreign Ministry. Again, the officials were all ears when it came to GFMD.
Perhaps our most interesting session took place with the Middle Eastern expert at the Danish Foreign Ministry. One of the lessons learned from the Danish cartoon matter, he said, was that investing in quality media was vital to avoiding global misunderstandings. At a time when news travels instantaneously around the world, he said it was crucial for the news media to provide context. This would help ensure that cartoons published by one Danish newspaper are not perceived as a reflection of the values of the entire nation of Denmark.
We are also working with the Salzburg Global Seminar to organize a meeting of exisiting—and potential funders—in October. Funded by Knight Foundation, this gathering will be an important GFMD initiative that we hope will put independent media on development agendas and raise funds for the sector.
I hope GFMD members are satisfied with our work thus far. If you haven’t signed up yet, please become a member now. And if you have, please bring in new members. I promise you, there is much more good work to come.
Best regards,
Joyce