For the third consecutive year, #defyhatenow is engaging members of the Cameroon Association of Media Professionals on fostering #Media4Peace in response to current challenges.
The Cameroon Association of Media Professionals – CAMP is hosting its 18th Annual General Meeting under the theme: “Effective Cross Cultural Communication as Weapon against Hatespeech in Humanitarian Settings”. Both the national and regional coordination units, alongside partners and guests will on August 12-13, 2023 reflect on ways media can address hatespeech in times of crisis. Building on the lessons learnt and recommendations for the past three years, #defyhatenow is proud to renew its support for this initiative aimed at engaging #Media4Peace in view of responding to humanitarian issues plaguing Cameroon. Our commitment falls in line with our work on enhancing media’s role in contributing to growth and development in their respective areas of operation.
In August 2021 the annual general meeting sought to strike a balance between hatespeech & FreeSpeech. This was an opportunity for our team to share our experience on countering hatespeech, violence & incitement to violence, both on/offline in Cameroon. This was in the form of a facilitated discussion led by Kinang Derick, Research/Admin officer, using #defyhatenow Social Media HateSpeech Mitigation FIELD GUIDE for Cameroon. The following year, during the 17th Annual General Assembly in Limbe, CAMP members were engaged on the theme: leveraging Social media as a news gathering tool for journalists. The second part of the session was an introduction to basic factchecking tools, owing to the rise in citizen journalism leading to the proliferation of mis/disinformation online; with a direct negative impact on mainstream media’s news gathering, treating and production processes.
This time around on August 12, 2023, discussions will focus on Cross Cultural Hatespeech: Examples and Mitigation methods. It will also be an opportunity to look at how cultural difference fuel hatespeech in humanitarian settings. The topics are inspired the sociopolitical turmoil, armed conflicts and other social tensions witnessed in Cameroon; as well as the affluence of ethnic hate, especially online, which poses a real risk of widespread violence and abuse. Owing to the importance of the above to our work, our Country Project Manager, Ngala Demond Ngala will grace this session with his presence, while leading the discussions.
The event’s host town, the seaside resort Limbe, was hard-hit by humanitarian crisis with loss of life, following a similar incident recorded in Buea. Above all, our collective response to such situations determines the nature of our daily interactions. This rightly justifies this year’s theme: “Effective Cross Cultural Communication as Weapon against Hatespeech in Humanitarian Settings”.
Victoria International Media Merit Award – VIIMMA 2023
On the sidelines of the annual general meeting every year, the Victoria International Media Merit Award – VIIMMA is organised to celebrate media professionals in their different capacities. The accolade comes as an encouragement to both mainstream and new media professionals who are upholding journalism standards a daily basis, while bridging the information gap in communities. Several of our past Africa Factchecking Fellowship – #AFFCameroon and #Media4Peace Fellows were among the winners. In addition to seeing the work of other peacebuilding partners celebrated, the introduction of a new category saluting research in journalism studies saw three winners, who recent defended their PhDs. Journalism Scholar of The Year 2022: Dr Manka Akwo, Dr Tchewo Melanie and Dr Olive Ejang. As the day approaches, all eyes and ears are itching to discover this year’s winners.
#defyhatenow #Media4Peace #ThinkB4UClick #SafeDigitalSpaces #HateFreeCameroon