Open dialogue via “Waves for the Mediterranean” and “Inter-Rives”

People living on the Mediterranean shores benefit today from improved means of dialogue. Chances for better understanding are improved. TV and radio programs are the keys. Report.

Samira Sadfi - Tunis, Eurojar

Dialogue between both sides of the Mediterranean is growing well as it benefits from the technological progress available nowadays. Radio is still gaining importance as a cultural bridge between populations: one can listen to radio at home, in the car, in the gym, and in stores. It can even accompany you on the streets. The European Union, along with regional Arab and European organizations, agreed to take advantage from this communication tool in an effort to bring people together. Three projects were launched for this purpose; one is a radio broadcast, and the two others are TV projects.

The radio cooperation project, “Waves of the Mediterranean”, is funded by the European Union, with “Radio France” as chief of project. The project was launched from the headquarters of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) in Tunisia during the first assembly to the Permanent Conference of the Mediterranean Audiovisual Operators (COPEAM).

COPEAM was born in Cairo in 1996. It is the most important conference that gathers annually media operators from the Mediterranean to exchange and set up concrete projects in line with the Mediterranean media challenges.

Stephanie Carette, responsible of media projects at the EU delegation in Tunisia, explains that 130 media professionals from 25 Mediterranean countries are joining efforts to produce programs under the supervision of COPEAM, in cooperation with two regional federations, namely the European radios federation and the Arab radios federation.

Six partners
Radio Commission Chief at COPEAM, Robert Kudelka notes that “Waves for the Mediterranean” project was funded by the Euro-Mediterranean foundation Anna Lindh with 200 thousand Euros. The project aims at developing and strengthening Euro-Mediterranean radio co-productions, in an effort to promote cultural dialogue and a better understanding of different civilizations in the Euromed region.

Julie Royer, responsible at COPEAM, explains that the project is bringing together six partners: the Tunisian Radio, Radio France (France Bleu Frequenza Mora), the Algerian Radio (ENRS), the Moroccan Radio (SNRT), the School of Visual Arts in Marrakech – Morocco, and COPEAM as coordinator. The collaboration focuses on the production of a news and entertainment magazine stretching on a period of 20 months.

Sakina Abdel Samad, journalist at the public Tunisian radio, assures that she did not hear of the project, or of any of its details. This situation should change gradually with the developing diffusion of radio and TV programs in the framework of the project.

The project supports as well training sessions on advanced technologies for the professionals of the Tunisian radio, in addition to 8 training workshops for radio professionals in the concerned countries. The project puts special emphasis on the development of “Radio Qantara” magazine, in the perspective of an evolution of this program in a weekly news magazine on the Mediterranean. Not to mention that two radio series will be produced in cooperation with COPEAM Radio Commission members, with emphasis on the development of dialogue and understanding between European and Mediterranean neighbors.

Dialogue with no limits
As for the large-scope co-production “Inter-Rives”, 6 Arab TV stations are concerned by it: Algeria, Syria, Morocco, Egypt, Al-Manar, Al-Jazira for kids, and 4 European ones (Italy, San Marino, Malta, and Spain). The process is simple: TV stations agree on the cultural subjects to be addressed in the framework of the project. Then, directors share the tasks in conformity with the conception of each TV station to the subject, according to its interests and orientations. They meet afterwards to discuss the scenario, and begin the real production work. They meet again towards the end of the project to assess the final result.

Media counselor of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (which headquarters are in Tunisia) Khamiss El-Chayeb explains that the project includes 10 programs for the 10 TV stations concerned. ASBU is engaged in organizing training sessions and is collaborating with COPEAM to ensure technical support for the project. One of ASBU innovative features was the December 2009 workshop, which gathered experts from Arab and European TV stations involved in the project. Directors and producers of children programs from Arab and European stations collaborated in the project, with an average of two documentaries per station.

Euromed News
The workshop was a space to exchange ideas about the programs produced in the Euromed region, in the framework of the new series “Inter-Rives”, also called “Glances of Children” and to discuss any necessary amendment to these documentaries. The first workshop in relation with this production was held at the headquarters of the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) in July 2009. The suggested subjects were discussed, and the norms and parameters of direction were defined. The duration of the documentaries agreed upon will be of 13 minutes each, in which children will be telling their own tales.

Formerly, 23 episodes on contemporary art, women, emigration… were produced. These productions were screened in several international occasions and diffused on Arab and European TV stations. Two episodes were produced by each partner; yet, all stations acquired the right to diffuse all episodes for free.

On the other hand, Euromed News programme aims at maximizing the visibility of Euro-Mediterranean partnership projects for the people of the south of the Mediterranean. This programme involves the production of 9 documentaries (one of them concerning equal opportunity), 40 radio magazines and 300 information news. Public TV stations in Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Lebanon, Libya and Syria were assigned this task. France Televisions heads the TV project, realized in collaboration with COPEAM. The Arab States Broadcasting Union and the programme Euromed News should work on enhancing the quality of the material to be diffused and on exchanging Euro-Mediterranean information. In this regard, public Algerian television assumes the responsibility of editing and assembling the written material of documentares, in cooperation with the editor in chief, who supervises the work from the federation’s headquarters in Tunisia. The federation’s Media counselor, Khamiss El-Chayeb explained that the last meeting that took place at the headquarters of the federation was an occasion for partners to set a calendar for the preparation and diffusion of programs. He also noted that media forums on cooperation between the European Union and countries of the south of the Mediterranean will be held in line with COPEAM annual meetings.

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