January-February 2009

CIME Forum 2009: Coming up this month!

The annual CIME Forum 2009 will draw professionals to a cross-cultural discussion table to explore the role of ethical media in democracy. Priority is given to countries that are struggling the most to ensure ethics and accuracy as "sacred" values in journalism.

The CIME Forum 2009 will serve as a springboard to help journalists avoid becoming victims of ethical dilemmas in the field. The goal is to focus on what each individual journalist can do to formulate and enforce a tacit code of ethics as a status quo of their profession. Each journalist will learn to do this according to the specific context of his or her workplace and country. The event will provide tangible strategies for making ethical decisions in daily journalism tasks that contribute to building and consolidating democracy.

The CIME Forum will include panel discussions, training workshops, meetings with leaders in the media profession, visits to media houses and much more. By the end of Forum, members should know more about ethical issues in their profession. Proposed solutions will be offered during the event and published on CIME Web site. The guidelines will serve as reference for journalist for dealing with ethical issues in their work.

Theme

The CIME Forum 2009 will discuss Covering Elections: The Role of Ethical Reporting in African Democracy-Building. It will be held in 2009 in Benin, in a region that is growing to become an example for democracy and press freedom in Africa.

West Africa is now considered one of the continent’s most stable regions. Benin stands out as a model, with its new president attempting to stamp out corruption while reviving the economy. But these attractive goals cannot be properly achieved without the help of objective journalism. Press freedom is still fragile in the region, as illustrates the recent struggle for passing a Freedom of Information Bill in Ghana. Maintaining ethical standards can become a daunting task for a journalist in Africa confronted with ridiculously low wages, a family to feed, and a high risk of penalties under certain regimes.

Call for Proposals: CIME Forum 2009 Speakers

If you are a journalist or journalism professor interested in speaking at the CIME Forum 2009 as a panelist or workshop instructor, please send your resume and a 1-page description of how you would like to address the topic of ethics in elections reporting during the Forum.

Email: forum@cimethics.org.

Registration and Participation

To register for CIME Forum 2009, please send us
1. Your first name
2. Middle initial
3. Last name
4. Country of residence
5. Country of citizenship
6. Telephone number
7. Email address
8. Profession
9. Employer
10. Emergency contact full name and telephone number
11. Your registration fee

The registration fee is 27 $US / 12 500 XOF. Payment must be received no later than February 15 to confirm participation. This may be done:

1) on the CIME Web site Donations page

2) OR by sending a check in XOF to:
M. JOS-PERZO ANAGO, Directeur MAISON DES MEDIAS Carré/1248, parcelle "H" Gbèdjromédé 2 02 BP 969 COTONOU-BENIN Tél: 00 (229) 21.32.68.44 21.32.34.45 / 90.91.08.09 / 97.44.04.03

The fee covers event cocktails, closing ceremony dinners, as well as your certificate of participation in the Forum.

For Participants: Hotel reservations must be handled individually. We recommend that you stay at the Ibis hotel that is across the street from the Sheraton where the Forum will be held, or that you stay at the Sheraton (Novotel) itself, ten minutes away from the airport.

Please send the name of your hotel and your arrival time to forum@cimethics.org for transportation arrangements .

Staying in a host family for a small fee is also an option. If you are interested in this opportunity, please let us know as soon as possible as spaces are limited and are on a first-come-first-serve basis.

For Speakers: If you are chosen to be a panelist or workshop instructor at the Forum (please see Call for Proposals above), you will receive a detailed notice about your hotel and other information. CIME will reimburse flight tickets upon your arrival at the CIME Forum 2009 in Cotonou.

Miscellaneous

The Forum will be in both French and English, with ongoing activities for speakers of both languages.

A certificate of participation will be delivered to all participants of the CIME Forum 2009.

A complete list of all scheduled activities will be available shortly.

For more information, please email to forum@cimethics.org

Center for International Media Ethics - CIME, Inc.
a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization      3047 N. Lincoln Avenue     Suite # 400     Chicago IL 60657 USA
Tel (USA): + 1 224 588 8782     Tel (Europe): + 33 6 1241 6858    Fax: + 1 773 883 1535
info@cimethics.org