UMR Maubisse

Saturday, January 15 was a special day for the Maubisse Media House. A delegation headed by Dr. Jonah Blank, Policy Director at the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations for South and Southeast Asia visited the Regional Media House. Other members of his delegation included Christopher Crawford, Political & Economic Officer at the US Embassy in Timor-Leste; Cheryl Williams, Acting Mission Director, USAID Timor-Leste; and Lisa Rogers from USAID Timor-Leste. ICFJ Senior Program Consultant Bikila Merga gave Dr. Blank and the other members of the delegation a tour of the Media House and the attached community radio station. Dr. Blank and Ms Williams also gave a live interview on the community radio station.

During the interview, Dr. Blank expressed admiration for what the Maubisse Media House and radio station are doing for the community and said he was impressed by how the journalists are making use of their skills at the Media House. As a former journalist, Dr. Blank said he was fully aware of the experiences and the challenges faced by journalists. “The people of Timor-Leste deserve the continued support of the United States through USAID,” added Dr. Blank.

Media Law Training In Dili

On January 17 & 18, Sarah Harmelink, the ICFJ/IREX media legal adviser and trainer, conducted two training sessions for new students at the Center for Investigative Journalism of Timor-Leste (CJITL). Invited by CJITL Director Gil Guterez, Sarah spoke about the system of media regulation in Australia -- including the role of the Australian Press Council and the Journalists' Statement of Principles. The two sessions were attended by fourteen participants on the first day and fifteen on the second day of training. The participants were interested in the way regulation of their profession works, and they asked pertinent questions about how these regulations are enforced.

One of the recommendations resulting from these training sessions is that ICFJ/IREX media law coordinator Francisco Pinto should, during the coming weeks, conduct training sessions for this group of students on the Code of Ethics for Journalists that is currently being debated in Timor-Leste.

Lightning Damages UMR Oecusse Antenna

ICFJ’s IT manager Oscar Selly traveled to the enclave of Oecusse in January to address a number of technical problems at the local Media House. The wireless connection at the UMR had malfunctioned, due to the stormy weather in Oecusse in late December and at the beginning of January. The wireless access point at the UMR Oecusse was repeatedly hit by lightning, destroying some of the wireless equipment. Selly was able to carry out the necessary repairs, but then learned that just after he had left Oecusse, the equipment was again hit by lightning. He will travel back to Oecusse early in February to work out a more permanent solution, likely to include the installation of a grounding system.

The Regional Media House in Oecusse provides internet access not only to the local media community in the enclave, but also to a neighboring Dominican Convent and to a local NGO, DWASH.

The National Press Center

Timor-Leste’s five Journalists Associations will soon have their own offices in Dili: in the National Press Center, which is currently nearing completion. Construction work for the NPC started in November 2010, but proceeded at a slower than expected pace, due to the December holiday season and the wet weather. The project picked up speed again in January, when all the walls were erected. The roof is scheduled to be put up in February.

The National Press Center is funded by the Australian Government Aid Program.

Departures

Two ICFJ staff members at the Dili office left the program in January:

Isolino Guterres had been working with the SIMPTL program as a translator and interpreter and as assistant to the Country Director since March 2010.

Deolindo Pereira had been responsible for handling the inventory at the Dili office and was instrumental in developing a new system for managing the inventory. He is leaving Timor-Leste, to pursue a further education program in the Philippines.