Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action
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Information you can trust: Tackling misinformation ahead of Sierra Leone’s elections
Marian Tina Conteh, Arnold Felix-Elba, Larry Tucker, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone is preparing for a general election for a new president and parliament. We’ve been working with our local media partners to support them to identify and debunk false and misinformation, and to strengthen their coverage, including through the iVerify platform.
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Goodbye Caroline, hello Simon - behind the scenes with Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action's CEOs
Caroline Nursey OBE and Simon Bishop
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action CEOs
On 11 July, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action – the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ’s international charity – will say goodbye to their CEO of 14 years, Caroline Nursey OBE, upon her retirement and welcome Simon Bishop as their new CEO.
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action’s head of communications, Carolynne Wheeler, sat down with Caroline and Simon to hear their reflections on the charity’s achievements, and on the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Caroline, Simon, thank you for joining me!
Caroline, you’ve been at Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action for 14 years now. What is the one achievement that you are most proud of?
Caroline: It’s really difficult to choose any one. I remember visiting Sierra Leone in the time of Ebola and seeing how the work we were doing was helping people think things through and avoid getting sick. Look at Afghanistan and the work we’re doing now with a women-led radio station way outside Kabul which is still keeping going in these very difficult times, or the radio and television stations in Ukraine that we’ve helped stay on air, keep safe and adapt their programming. But it’s not just in times of crises. I think some of the peacetime, long-term work is really important too and I would perhaps mention the work in India where we…
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Information you can trust: Tackling misinformation ahead of Sierra Leone’s elections
Marian Tina Conteh, Arnold Felix-Elba, Larry Tucker
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action Sierra Leone
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Sierra Leone is preparing for a general election for a new president and parliament. We’ve been working with our local media partners to support them to identify and debunk false and misinformation, and to strengthen their coverage, including through the iVerify platform. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action’s mentor-trainers Marian Tina Conteh and Arnold Felix-Elba, and social media producer Larry Tucker, sat down with our head of communications, Carolynne Wheeler, to explain.
Marian, Arnold and Larry, thanks so much for joining me! The national elections in Sierra Leone are fast approaching - with 13 candidates for president alone, an increased security presence, a ban on political street rallies, and a sea of misinformation swirling ahead of the vote. What are the challenges faced by our media partners in this environment?
Marian Tina Conteh: I think the biggest challenge is that there is already a lot of mis- and disinformation, online and in traditional media. Although social media, blogs and influencers are emerging, there is still a strong reliance on radio and television. And journalists need the skills to identify and tackle false information. It can be hard for them to cross-check and…
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Saving lives with radio - a view from Ukraine's frontlines
Liudmyla Tiahnyriadno
Presenter/reporter, Ukrainian Radio
My name is Liudmyla Tiahnyriadno, and I am a host on Ukrainian Radio. I have been working on the radio for almost seven years, since the beginning of the reforming of Ukraine’s National Radio Company into a public interest broadcaster, UA:PBC (now known as Suspilne).
I used to have a programme called Activation, about the development of civil society. I invited public organisations to take initiative, and told stories of how ordinary people can unite and change the country for the better.
Now, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, everything has completely changed - my work, the content, and my life.
Liudmyla Tiahnyriadno in a temporary Ukrainian Radio studio in a bunker in Lviv, early in the war. Photo courtesy of Liudmyla Tiahnyriadno.
Attempts to cut off communication
At the very beginning, the Kyiv [TV] tower was struck and we understood that the purpose was to completely cut off communication. Without communication, people will be disorganised and will not understand what is happening.
At first, our radio operation was evacuated to Lviv. We moved and broadcast for three months from our Lviv branch.
°ΒΎ±³Ω³σ…
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How media is helping during Afghanistan’s hunger crisis
Mursal Abrar, Mahdi Zaki, Carolynne Wheeler
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action
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A market in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Getty.
Our head of communications, Carolynne Wheeler, caught up with our Afghanistan project manager, Mursal Abrar, and our Afghanistan research manager, Mahdi Zaki, to learn about our project focused on nutrition with the World Food Programme.
Carolynne: Mahdi, Mursal – thank you for joining me! Please can you tell me about what we have been doing with the World Food Programme to address the current…
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A new 'dawn' for young people in Ethiopia
Kirubel Shiferaw and Newal Abubeker
Producers and presenters, Negat
Young people in Ethiopia are coming of age amid high rates of unemployment and political and social instability. They face gender, cultural, traditional and social norms and barriers when it comes to education, access to services, public and civil participation, and when looking for work - all of which contribute to a sense of frustration and hopelessness, and can hold them back from exploring new opportunities.
Our team has been working to gain a better understanding of young people’s aspirations, challenges, motivators, influences and needs when it comes to access to relevant services,…
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Faces of Tanzania - a gender transformative photo series
Joseph Minde
Digital media producer, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action Tanzania
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“My secrets to success are knowing yourself, following your dreams and never giving up!”
These are the words of Meena Ally, a former Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ MA presenter and know a well-known media personality across the country. She is just one of the many inspirational voices our Niambie! (Tell me!) programme highlights. We produced this simple yet powerful advice to be shared with our online audience of over 400,000, but even me, the individual sitting behind the camera, cannot help but take her advice on board.
My name is Joseph Minde. I am Tanzanian by birth, but an African citizen by nurture. I grew up in…
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A journalist with a vision - our work with PRIMED in Bangladesh
Shahrin Ahsan
Bangladesh project officer, media development
It isn’t often that we come across women in leadership roles in the media in Bangladesh.
While women represent nearly 50% of the world’s total population, we don’t have nearly the same representation in the industry. We do see women as presenters, anchors, and reporters, but their number is still disproportionate here in Bangladesh.
So, when Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action started working with Gramer Kagoj (Village Paper), a leading local daily newspaper in the southeast region of Bangladesh and one of two local partners supported through the programme Protecting Independent Media for Effective Development…
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Stop the silent suffering of Somali girls
Mohammed A. Gaas
Deputy Country Director, Somalia
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A girl pictured in a produce market in Barawe, Somalia
UN figures indicate that over 90% of girls and women in Somalia have been subject to female genital mutilation (FGM). Discussions over FGM remain a taboo in many places in Somalia and the devastating health ramifications – including pain, bleeding, permanent disability, trauma and even death - remain prevalent.
The most commonly cited reasons for carrying out this harmful practice include cultural… -
Brave girls valiantly stopping child marriages in Bangladesh
Tasnim Khandoker
Assistant producer, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action Bangladesh
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"Just as a caged bird enjoys flying in the blue sky, an adolescent girl rejoices when her early marriage is stopped."
Sanjida Islam Chowa explained to me that, for a teenager, getting married at a young age is no less than life in a cage. And Chowa, along with a few friends, has been helping other girls find a way to fly out of this cage for several years.
We first met these seven teenagers when they were 13 or 14 years-old. Back in 2018 we featured them in Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action’s popular radio programme Hello Check! because of a wonderful initiative in a school in Nandail, in the Mymensingh…
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Saving for a brighter future - aged 13 and against the odds
Mariama Sesay
Lead Producer, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Media Action Sierra Leone
“At age 13 on a rainy day, I sat on my wheelchair shivering with a plastic bag covering some part of my body. An idea crossed my mind that I could change my current situation”
Aminata Tholley told us that when she was little, she would go out in the streets begging from people passing by in private and commercial vehicles, just to survive. In Sierra Leone it is common for people living with disabilities, especially young girls and women, to beg for money in big cities and towns. We met Aminata in Freetown during the production of our radio programme Wae Gyal Pikin Tinap (When a Girl Child…
