Good news...

I might as well announce it now… It looks like I’ll be staying in Freetown, Sierra Leone for the next year to 18 months as a Knight Fellow – on a journalism fellowship out of the International Center for Journalism in Washington… Yes, very prestigious… and I’m so pleased. I’ll be working with the transition of SLBS (state-owned broadcaster) to SL Broadcasting Corporation – a public broadcaster. I’ll help through the 50th anniversary of Sierra Leone’s independence in 2011 and hopefully through the next general election in 2012. It’s a tremendous opportunity to be involved in a historic, never-before-done project in Africa. Should be “interesting”…

I'd applied to the Knight Fellowship program waaayyyy back in August 2009 and am just now seeing some fruits to that labour or results from that application.

This is from their website…

The Knight International Journalism Fellowships make tangible changes that improve the quality and free flow of news in the public interest around the world. Funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation , international media professionals work in countries where there are opportunities to promote reliable, insightful journalism that holds officials accountable. Knight Fellows are establishing new journalism associations, launching journalism schools, creating online databases to track corruption, establishing news delivery services via cell phone and creating digital platforms to share content. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Knight Fellows are developing a corps of journalists in Sub-Saharan Africa whose work is leading to better public policies and a better quality of life. The program’s Health Journalism Fellowships help media in five countries produce in-depth and investigative coverage of health issues such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The new Africa Development Journalism Fellows will work with journalists in four countries to give them skills to report on poverty-related issues such as agriculture, rural development, sanitation and microfinance.

Some other background:

I've been in sporadic contact with the Knight Fellowship folks over the intervening months as my work with jhr- journalists for human rights, and on the transition from the state-owned SLBS to a public broadcast corporation has progressed. It's obviously taken many months and hours of work to get the process to this stage - meaning the government of Sierra Leone has passed the Bill to create the broadcasting corporation, a Board of Directors has been nominated (the Chair appointed by the President), some UN consultations and funding proposals created, technical consultations, etc. etc.

We (a whole bunch of folks from the UN, BBC, Fondation Hirondelle, DW in Germany, etc.) finally have a plan, which should be finalized with UN Radio, SLBC, the government, etc. in mid-June. That "plan" will be the basis for the re-structuring and funding proposals which will go to the IMF, World Bank, Peace-Building Fund of the UN, etc.

In this plan, a position of "training director" or "training facilitator" was created... to help coordinate technical, managerial, board, editorial, corporate and public training... everything from classroom programs to teach basic typing skills to mentorship models for journalists in the field. It's a very big and important position in which I'd coordinate trainers, programs, etc. and also do hands-on training. I'd also be developing policies for the corporation around production values, ethical principles, codes of conduct, and so on.

The new broadcasting corporation, with the transition management team, wants someone with independence yet with inside knowledge of the field, the media environment in Sierra Leone, the people, the politics, etc. And, that's where the Knight Fellowship comes in... I'd be able to maintain financial, political and editorial independence because the International Center for Journalism/Knight Foundation would be paying my salary and expenses. The training position would be for a year or more... with the plan to create a sustainable foundation/policies to the training of staff, Board, etc. In other words, I'd be creating the policies and then mentoring someone in the personnel dept. to take on this role.

I'm really looking forward to this work... not just for the prestige of working with the Knight folks but also because I firmly believe in this project. It's huge... going from "state-owned" (think dictatorial USSR or communist china) to public broadcaster - (think CBC and BBC). And, it's "history in the making" - literally. Quite exciting, I’m sure you’d agree.

So, there's lots going on... and huge opportunities afoot.

I'm hoping to pass through Toronto on my way to Washington for an orientation week with the International Center for Journalism but I don't have exact dates or plans yet... They'll come shortly and I'll be in touch.

Wow... this is exciting.
More later,
Stephen