In the run-up to elections in Chad, CFI is forging ahead on its remit to foster professionalism among staff at the state TV channel Télé Tchad. First introduced in 2009, the training course will be wound up with the third session held in N’Djamena from 27 July to 5 August.

At this workshop, two CFI experts, Frédéric Bouquet and Auberi Edler, free-lance directors and chief editors, will be training ten members of staff from Chad TV (a chief editor, a director, journalists, graphic artists etc.). It will focus on the organisation of election nights, especially on the creation of a studio programme and techniques for leading debates and conducting interviews. The course will also cover debate time-keeping, raising viewer awareness of the importance of the vote and its organisation, as well as on the graphic artwork to present the results.

Fitting campaign coverage into the schedule

In the past years, CFI has experimented and developed several training sessions in Africa on major issues pertaining to media coverage of campaigns, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Burundi and Côte d’Ivoire. In Chad, the first training session, in November 2009, concentrated on news reporting. Supervised by Yves Bruneau, Chief Editor and Fabien Cordier, TV reporter, it was geared around the Télé Tchad newscast. The second part of the course, which took place from 5 to 9 April 2010, focussed on adapting the programme schedule during the run-up to elections. Frédéric Bouquet and chief editor Daniel Grillon worked with the channel’s programming and production teams (directors, editors, assistant directors, programmers, producers etc.) on setting up regular slots throughout the campaign, like a “campaign diary”, debates and one-on-one interviews.

Event

2010 African Athletics Championship

From 28 July to 1 August 2010, CFI staff will be in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside African journalists commentating the 17th African Athletics Championship. Unlike in Addis Ababa in 2008, this competition is now fully organised and produced by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). CFI is a partner of this organisation to handle the live broadcast on African screens and to support journalists providing commentary.

Throughout the championship, CFI will be offering its African TV partners images of the competition with commentary, in French and English, by African professionals trained by two CFI experts.

2010 French Network Abroad Days

As every year, CFI will be attending the "French Network Abroad Days" to be held on 19, 20 and 21 July 2010 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris, with “France tunes in to the world” as the main theme.

In the field

Africa

Chad, 25 July - 5 August, training on the organisation of an election evening

CFI staff will be back in Chad for a third training session catering to journalists at Télé-Tchad as they gear up for the forthcoming elections. The first session, in November 2009, focussed on reporting news. The second, held in April 2010, focussed more specifically on adapting the programme schedule to cater to the election campaign. This third training session will explore the organisation of an election evening.

Mali, 26 July - 7 August, support to create a new graphic identity

At the request of the Mali state broadcasting corporation, ORTM, CFI is sending graphics expert Clément Deneux, to Bamako for two weeks, in order to help the TV channel create a new graphic identity.

Mediterranean region and Asia

Vietnam, 7 - 21 August, training for presenters

The Vietnam news agency (AVI), a new partner in Vietnam, has called on CFI to train its TV journalists to present a newscast. CFI is organising two weeks of coaching on broadcasting for 10 Vietnamese journalists, supervised by Isabelle Malivoir, Assistant Chief Editor for TV5 Monde.

Sport

Football - FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup - 21 July to 1 August 2010

In partnership with the AUB, CFI is offering to broadcast 22 of the competition matches to AUB members.

Programmes

Special programming for the 50th anniversary of Independence for many African countries:

2010 marks the 50th anniversary of Independence for many African countries. To celebrate these events, CFI will be offering the documentary series Les Précurseurs (Pioneers) to its African TV partners in the coming weeks. This series draws eight portraits of Africans having played an important role in the their country’s independence, including Barthélémy Boganda, a priest from the Central African Republic, Senegalese politician Lamine Gueye and Guinean Rabiatou Diallo.

As every year, CFI will be attending the "French Network Abroad Days" to be held on 19, 20 and 21 July 2010 at the Palais des Congrès in Paris with “France tunes in to the world” as the main theme. Haiti will be the country of honour.

Each year, these days bring together over 2000 professionals involved in French initiatives abroad in the sectors of culture, the economy and development, research and teaching. All the players in international cooperation are invited along, including leaders in civil society, cooperative agents, players in the private sector, local authorities, academics, scientists working in research and of course all those working for the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs in Paris and abroad.

The 2010 days will feature four workshops and five plenary sessions on 20 and 21 July :

  "Haiti bounces back" ;
  "Knowledge diplomacy" ;
  "Digital opportunities for France in global communications" ;
  "Development and globalisation : how to mesh development aid, growth and Millennium Development Goals" ;
  "Creative output at the core of cultural initiatives abroad". The regularly updated programme for these days may be viewed online.

This annual event is a special occasion for sharing, brainstorming and communication between all those working to leverage France’s international footing and solidarity.