U.S. Embassy Supports a 5-Day Training on Professional Ethics

Group photo of the participants. [Photo US Embassy]

The U.S. Embassy recently used its Senegalese contacts to spearhead a training program in neighboring Guinea-Bissau in partnership with the ANG (Guinea-Bissau News Agency).  The training theme was professional ethics in social communication, and Senegal’s national APS (Senegalese Press Agency) sent Mr. Cheikh Tidiane Ndiaye, a Senegalese Senior Journalist, to travel to Bissau as a joint trainer along with an ANG counterpart. (Although Guinea-Bissau is a Portuguese-speaking country, many professionals have a good level of understanding in French.)

ANG Director, Salvador Gomes, showed his gratitude for the financial support from the U.S. Embassy and lauded the knowledge about the profile of the news and its characteristics, plus the important moral dimension and values to add to the news. The job of a journalist sometimes brings undesirable consequences that can be mitigated with a fair, balanced and responsible work. With the training on Professional Ethics, even under hard conditions and the dependence on authorities a journalist can do his or her job accordingly. Being a journalist is hard, and hardship is intrinsic to the profession.

Kristin Kane, Public Affairs Officer of the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, used the closing ceremony of the training to stress the position of the U.S. Embassy regarding the situation in Guinea-Bissau. Ms. Kane went on saying that the United Nations, through resolution no. 2048, designated the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to lead efforts to resolve the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau and restore constitutional rule of law and democracy, including elections in early 2013.  The United States supports creating a clear pathway for elections to be successful and for Guinea-Bissau to return to a course of stability and democracy with the inclusion of all stakeholders.