ICFJ and its three printing press partners put pen to paper on April 28 – formalizing an agreement establishing the Independent Printing Press Timor-Leste. ICFJ’s partners are three independent newspapers: Kla’ak, The Dili Weekly and Timor Post. The USAID-funded project involves the procurement of a printing press, its setup and lots of training – from how to operate the printing press equipment to how to set up and manage financial systems.

The project is managed by ICFJ’s Antonio Soares, who traveled to Jakarta, Indonesia last year to identify and procure the equipment. Early this year, ICFJ took delivery of the press and its accessories. ICFJ renovated the building that houses the equipment – including the pouring of a floor that is nearly two feet thick – in order to support the multi-ton printing press, cutter, plate maker and image printer.

Test runs on the equipment are to begin in May when ink and paper arrive. ICFJ is looking for the most cost-effective distributor.

This will be the first printing house in Dili to be established by a group of independent newspapers. It is likely to profoundly improve the prospects for sustainability of Timor-Leste’s independent media sector, and it will strengthen press freedom: one of the main objectives is to support independent media outlets unable to afford the prices and terms of existing commercial printing houses.

On the last day of April, ICFJ, in partnership with five journalism associations, organized the monthly Meet the Press program – and as part of the upcoming World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd – the topic of the program was ‘How the Newly-Passed Media Policy Will Affect Journalists’. More than two dozen journalists questioned the three guests about the media policy. The guests included: Francisco da Silva of the Timor-Leste Media Development Center (TLMDC); Fernanda Borges, Member of Parliament and president of Committee A; and Otelio Ote, the president of KOLKOS. The media policy would require journalists to obtain licenses from a government-funded press council and attend a government-funded media institute.

Jaime dos Santos, the new Media House coordinator in Ermera, underwent training in Dili and Baucau in early April. The training was conducted by Senior Media Consultant Emanuel Braz and Baucau Media House Coordinator Manuel Ximenes. Jaime’s immediate goal is to engage the Ermera community and make it more aware of the media house. Trainer Frida Rodelo put the finishing touches on the new Style Guide for journalists. The book contains the proper spellings of commonly used words and phrases, as well as acronyms and definitions. The Style Guide was approved by the National Institute of Linguistics. It also contains a Code of Ethics for journalists. Fifty copies of the book are being made available to all media outlets.

ICFJ conducted its regular twice-weekly TOT trainings in April as well as a variety of other trainings. Trainer Rodelo conducted a series of layout and design trainings at Timor Post. She will also conduct similar workshops at Diario Nacional and The Dili Weekly.

Media lawyer Sarah Harmelink traveled by ferry to the enclave of Oecusse to conduct a workshop on media rights. Her training was held at the Oecusse Media House. She also held a training workshop for media lawyers at the Dili Media House.

Oecusse was also the site of two other trainings in April. ICFJ trainer Matt Crook conducted a nearly week-long basic journalism course and UNMIT’s Isabelle Abric did a two-and-a-half day video training course.

Trainers Marianne Kearney and Budi Setyo teamed up for one of the twice-weekly TOT trainings for a mock news conference to test the journalists on accuracy: Budi Setyo played the role of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao and read from the actual national strategic development plan for 2010-2030.