Latin America

Latin America Forum for Media Development

Regional Forum for Media Development in Latin America and the Caribbean

On March 13th and 14th, 2008, representatives of 24 media development organizations from Latin America and the Caribbean and an important group of international observers participated in the Regional Forum for Media Development in Cartagena, Colombia. The event was hosted by the New Journalism Foundation (FNPI - Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano), with the support of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Andean Development Corporation (CAF), and the AVINA Foundation.
The objetive of the meeting was to examine the challenges, strategic issues and possibilities of the media development sector in Latin America and the Caribbean, and identify a set of strategies for the recognition and strengthening of the media development sector in the region in order to improve advocacy with governments, civil society, and the international cooperation community. 
The Regional Forum is an initiative that emerged within the scope of the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD), a collaborative process that gathers together organizations from over 97 countries and aims at bringing coherence, community and advocacy to the worldwide movement working towards the development of the independent media sector, a cornerstone of democratic and sustainable development.
The Latin America & the Caribbean forum is part of a series of regional forums that will be established in i) Sub-Saharan Africa, ii) the Middle East & North Africa, iii) Asia & the Pacific, and iv) Eurasia. The fora seek to mobilize the regional organizations ahead of GFMD’s second global meeting that is planned to take place in December 2008.

Main results of the forum in Cartagena

In order to consolidate and widen the collaboration between the participants and other organizations that work in the same field and formulate the outlines for a common standpoint for Latin America and the Caribbean for the next GFMD meeting in December 2008, the organizations that attended the forum in Cartagena identified three strategic working issues for the media development sector in the region:

  1. Right to communication and/or information
  2. Quality and journalism
  3. Corporate Social responsibility of media

In addition, the Regional Forum considers that a high priority should be assigned to the recognition of media development organizations as a sector, and the institutional strengthening of the organizations that work for it.
With those goals in mind, the attending organizations decided to create a virtual network (that will be open to other organizations) to work as a community of practice. Unanimously, the participants designated an associated coordination committee and two regional representatives to the GFMD Steering Committee. 
                             
The two regional representatives to the GFMD Steering Committee, that will serve for approximately three years, until the next GFMD global meeting after the one in Athens in December 2008, are: 

  • The New Journalism Foundation (FNPI), Colombia
  • The Brazilian News Agency for Children’s Rights (ANDI)

The members of the network’s Coordination Committee, beside to the two representatives of the GFMD Steering Committee are:

  • Association of Caribbean Media Workers, Trinidad
  • CALANDRIA (Asociación de Comunicadores Sociales), Peru
  • PRENDE (Fundación Prensa y Democracia), Mexico


Furthermore, there will be thematic working commissions that will define the content and the working plan for the network’s strategic working issues.

     
  1. Right to communication and/or information:       - Ana Arana, Knight Fellow   - César Ricaurte, Fundamedios   - Jaime Abello Banfi, FNPI   - José Buendía, PRENDE   - Carlos Dada, El Faro.net   - Marisol Manrique, Medios para la Paz
    2.  
  2. Journalistic quality   - Nelsy Lizarazo, ALER   - Rosa María Alfaro, CALANDRIA   - Carlos Cortés, FLIP   - Kela León, Consejo de la Prensa Peruana   - Luz María Helguero, Red de Periodistas de Provincias del Perú
    3.  
  3. Corporate Social responsibility of media   - Jaime Abello Banfi, FNPI   - Gregorio Salazar, FIP   - Guilherme Canela, ANDI   - Luz María Helguero, Red de Periodistas de Provincias del Perú   - Kela León, Consejo de la Prensa Peruana  

Working plan 
April: 

  • Define the association criteria for the Latin America and the Caribbean network
  • Define the network’s operative structure

These documents will be elaborated by the network’s coordination - assumed by FNPI with the support of UNDP until December 2008 - and the Coordination Committee, and will be submitted
to all members for comments and approval.

  • Create a directory of the affiliated organizations
  • Collaborate with GFMD and ICFJ to determine the structure of the future website
  • Putting relevant documents on the actual website of the Regional Forum
  • Start to define the content and the working plan for the network’s strategic working issues

May – December: (a detailed working plan will be follow soon):

  • Define a regular communication strategy
  • Complement FNPI’s existing mapping of media development organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean and create an open public source where short descriptions can be found of the objectives and activities of each organization
  • Compile “good practices” in the network’s three strategic working areas
  • Elaborate a regional diagnose for Latin America and the Caribbean in each strategic working area
  • Prepare a document for the GFMD meeting in December that resumes the work and the achievements of the Regional Forum in Latin America and the Caribbean