Regional Programs: Training
Child Rights .
Public Health (in particular HIV/AIDS) . Environment
. Gender and Social Justice . Archive
Regional Training Courses
10.
Belize, May 1991
Theme(s) Pollution of the Belize waterways.
Collaboration with local environmental NGOs.
Length 1 day.
Target Group
20 journalists from print, TV and radio.
Objectives
To form the Belize Chapter of REPAC.
To learn about pollution of the waterways in Belize.
Context
A year before, REPAC was formed in El Salvador, and it gave the appropiate framework to build the Belize's chapter.
Participants
10 participants: 4 print, 2 TV, 2 radio, 2 government representatives.
Female/ Male Ratio: 2/8.
Working Methodology and Activities
Presentations by several resource people, followed by question and answer periods; a working session to form REPAC-Belize; and an evaluation and closing session.
An important and very practical presentation was made by a participant of the 1990 Panos/CARIMAC environmental summerschool.
Documentation Used
Several publications by local organizations. Also background on mission and objectives of REPAC.
Results
Due to a special House meeting, the attendance was less than hoped for. Nevertheless, the Belize chapter of REPAC was enthusiastically formed (with a Directorate) and goals decided.
The theme issue, pollution of waterways, was not well covered, due to last-minute cancellation of one of the main speakers.
Evaluation by Participants
The participants valued the event a lot and gained new knowledge as a result of the presentations. Some mentioned that they also had expected better attendance. However, most thought that the event was well-planned.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations
A recurrent problem is that Panos' partners do not have the staff and time to properly prepare for events in such a way as to insure full participation.
To prevent losing participants to another event, BCB personnel
should have personally visited every media house to discuss the
importance of the seminar and establish its priority with editors
and producers.
10. Belize City, 31 May 1991. BCB/Panos REPAC-Belize
Seminar: "Pollution of Our Waterways".
In Belize, a small group of journalists came together
to join the Central American Environmental Journalists
Network (REPAC), with a main objective of organizing
local training seminars for journalists on specific
issues. These seminars should enable media practitioners
to deal with governments, corporations and others that
may be in their way of reporting the facts and consequences
of events. Themes proposed for the first three seminars
included: pollution of our waterways; garbage disposal;
and abuse of marine laws.
This first seminar on reporting pollution of waterways
was organized by Panos in collaboration with the Broadcasting
Corporation of Belize (BCB). The event was convened
in the UWI School of Continuing Studies.
Coincidentally, the day before the seminar the government
called a special House (Parliament) meeting and every
media house in town sent their reporters to cover it.
The result was that many who had confirmed attendance
were reassigned to the House meeting. The larger media
houses were still able to send some reporters to the
seminar but the unexpected turn of events effectively
cut the participation in half.
Despite the reduced turn-out, the discussions were
lively and informative. A newspaper editor shared his
experiences in investigative reporting from a lifetime
career, and informed the participants about Belize libel
laws. A technician from the Fisheries Department of
the Ministry of the Environment and Tourism spoke on
pollution of the Belizean seas, and a college professor
addressed the major environmental issues globally and
locally.
One of the most interesting presentations was done
by a Belizean radio reporter who attended the Panos/CARIMAC
two-week workshop in Jamaica last year. He shared his
insights on how to research environmental stories, based
on his experience in that workshop. As a working journalist
and peer, his presentation showed his colleagues that
what was being advocated was not so alien or difficult
to achieve.
The Permanent Secretary to the Minister of the Environment
gave the government's policy position on issues relating
to the environment and generated a lot of spirited debate,
and the Advisor to the Minister of Education closed
the seminar. The group then formed the Belize chapter
of REPAC, received certificates to that effect, and
filled out evaluation questionnaires.
Press coverages entailed sending a press release to
all the major media houses; one TV station sent a crew
to the seminar to film it for the evening news. Also,
radio covered the seminar the same day. Since Belize
in 1991 only had weekly newspapers, most of which appeared
on Fridays, the reporters who attended the seminar filed
their reports for the next week's issues.
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