World Press Freedom Day is celebrated every year on May 3rd, and this year marked the 30th anniversary of the proclamation of this day by the General Assembly of the United Nations after its adoption during the 26th session of UNESCO’s General Conference in 1991 by its member states. This day celebrates among other the fundamental principles of freedom of the press and evaluates press freedom worldwide.
Capacity building workshop on Sustainable Futures for Media- Empowered, Resilient and Independent
The Curaçao National Commission for UNESCO, UNESCO Regional Office for the Caribbean in Jamaica, in collaboration with the Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC) and the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU) represented by its member TeleCuraçao organized from May 10-12, 2023 a capacity building workshop on Sustainable Futures for Media- Empowered, Resilient and Independent for journalists and other media workers as part of the celebration of World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2023.
Professionals in the field of media in Curaçao were invited to participate of which there were representatives from the print and electronic media as well as social media and government. Facilitators for the various topics were Ms Kiran Maharaj -President and Cofounder of the non-profit Media Institute of the Caribbean (MIC), and the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network, author, journalist, media trainer, Vice President of the Media Institute of the Caribbean, Founder, Association of Caribbean Media Workers, and press freedom campaigner Mr Wesley Gibbings, Dr Paul G. C. Hector- Advisor for Communication and Information in UNESCO’s Regional Office for the Caribbean in Kingston , Constitutional Lawyer Ms Suzy Camelia-Römer, Journalists from TeleCuraçao Mr Franklin Haseth and Ms Nicole Maduro and Secretary General for the Curaçao National Commission for UNESCO Ms Marva Browne M.A.
During this three-day encounter the participants were able to receive and exchange experiences on struggles and developments taking place not only locally but also regional. Among the topics discussed were the challenges to Media as a Business, local challenges to Media Viability, Business Models and Growth Opportunities, the International Media Community, Developing Codes of Ethics for Media Organizations (Best Practices Self -Regulation), Artificial Intelligence, Disinformation, Fake news, Big Tech, Alternative Media, what is needed to have a successful media association, SDGs, Developing Codes of ethics for Media Organisations.
The participants participated very actively and at the end of the workshop they agreed to work on establishing a body for the media and other important aspects relevant to their work. Two lectures on the themes in Papiamentu and English on two separate days in the evening on ‘Achieving effective information separation for the purpose of preventing manipulation, remains a significant challenge in many nations/ Separashon di informashon for di manipulashon un reto den tur nashon’ were held for the general public.