Grand Bassam (Côte d’Ivoire), 14 September 2018. The Ivoirian Minister of Communication and Media, and Government’s Spokesperson, Sidi Tiémoko Touré, pleaded for a readjustment or a redefinition of the editorial and information policies of the media in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In his speech delivered in Grand Bassam, Côte d’Ivoire, on Thursday 13 September 2018, during the opening of a regional seminar on public radio and television stations in the ECOWAS region, he invited media professionals to process information with fairness, relevance and intelligence.

‘Information is available anytime, anywhere. It is therefore imperative to process, present and if necessary, control it in order to provide a complete, fair and documented information as well as curb misconceptions or unfounded rumours’, Sidi Tiémoko Touré stated.

 He urged media practitioners to respect the principles of equity, freedom and plurality as defined in the code of conduct and ethics of the media.

 Mr Touré said he was convinced that the conclusions and recommendations of the meeting would provide guidelines for the definition of an ambitious cooperation scheme that meets Africa’s vision for the media.

Speaking in the same vein, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Telecommunications and Information Technology, Dr Zouli Bonkoungou, representing the President of the Institution, Jean-Claude Kassi Brou, the event’s sponsor,  lauded the organisation of the meeting which, according to him, will facilitate the creation of a framework to promote the sharing of information on regional integration.

He expressed the hope that the meeting would be a good opportunity for radio and television stations in the region to work together on one hand, and on the other hand, collaborate with ECOWAS for a greater visibility of activities and achievements of the regional organisation.

‘I am convinced that this would be the beginning of a lasting and fruitful collaboration between West African public radio and television stations and ECOWAS Institutions. Indeed, one of the major obstacles to ECOWAS integration efforts is the poor knowledge of the programmes, activities and objectives of the regional organisation by its citizens’, Dr Zouli Bonkoungou pointed out.

He expressed optimism that the objectives of the seminar, which include the improvement of regional editorial contents, establishment of correspondents’ network and mutual assistance among public radio and television in the region, would ensure the processing and dissemination of information on issues relating to regional integration, peace, security, stability and democracy in West Africa.

The Director General of Côte d’Ivoire’s Radio and Television Broadcasting Corporation, (RTI), Ahmadou Bakayoko, questioned the importance given to these issues in Community radio and television programmes.

‘When we review information provided by radio and television, there is little information on programmes in the sub-region and we are not abreast of developments in the region’, he opined.

He pointed out that the meeting is aimed at bridging the information gap in a competitive environment with technological and economic developments as well as the ever increasing demand by listeners and viewers.

‘We should learn to work together in order to have quality contents’, he said, stressing that the aim of the seminar is to share experience with a view to establishing a cooperation framework. This can be attained through regional editorial contents, mutual assistance framework and creation of a network of correspondents at the end of the meeting.

The regional seminar on information programmes of West African public radio and television was attended by heads and representatives of media organisations.

Organised by RTI, under the sponsorship of ECOWAS, the seminar seeks to foster partnership among stakeholders for ‘better processing’ of news in the region.

About 30 delegates from Bénin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo attended the meeting.