Media and development training
A group committed to supporting local media outlets
Skills transfer is one of France Médias Monde’s missions to help strengthen democratic ecosystems, which are at the heart of the challenges facing its media’s global presence. With the support of its subsidiary CFI (Canal France International) and its Academy, France Médias Monde is training journalists and technicians, and building the capacity of local media outlets.
CFI, the media development agency
CFI, a wholly-owned subsidiary of FMM since 2017, develops and implements projects in the field of official development assistance to support local media as well as civil society players committed to pluralist and democratic news throughout the world, and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world and countries bordering the European Union.
CFI’s development aid activities are based on the priorities set out in its Contract of Objectives: the fight against fake news, gender equality, environmental protection, the promotion of democracy and civic engagement, and so on.
Many of CFI’s projects are co-constructed with France Médias Monde, RFI, France 24 and Monte Carlo Doualiya, which contribute their news and technical expertise to more than half of the initiatives carried out in the field (programme relocations, training, sharing of know-how, etc.).
France Médias Monde Academy
France Médias Monde has an Academy that provides paid professional training courses for journalists and technicians, with the aim of promoting cooperation and exchange and making a direct contribution to improving their work. Internationally, the media turn to France Médias Monde for its reputation, global reach and multilingualism. The FMM Academy works with the editorial teams of various media who call on its expertise, particularly in Africa and the Arab world.
Together with CFI, the France Médias Monde Academy also offers the ‘Conseils de journalists’, platform that contains over 200 multilingual videos for journalists from all over the world, divided into five collections: ‘solutions journalism’, ‘journalism and gender equality’, ‘journalism and health’, ‘journalism and the environment’ and ‘journalism and fact-checking’.
RFI Clubs: almost 100,000 members on five continents
RFI Clubs are groups of listeners who are very attached to RFI, managed locally and following a charter defined by the channel. They now have almost 100,000 members on every continent, mainly in Africa. They offer cultural, sporting, health, environmental and French-language activities, echoing the programmes and commitments of RFI, which regularly supports them and gives them airtime in a dedicated programme, as well as on digital platforms.
RFI Clubs have been in existence for over 25 years, and act as local players, carrying out micro-projects in a wide range of fields to offer solutions and prospects for development, including in the most isolated areas, as illustrated by the spontaneous deployment of RFI Clubs in refugee camps (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, etc.). As part of a worldwide movement to engage young people, the RFI Clubs have their roots in civil society. Their expertise is increasingly mobilised through partnerships with CFI, a subsidiary of France Médias Monde, to develop projects such as the Désinfox Tchad, project to for training on how to fight fake news.
RFI Planète Radio/ePOP
RFI Planète Radio also contributes to the France Médias Monde group’s development and cooperation activities. Founded over 20 years ago, RFI Planète Radio acts as a collaborative organisation to provide support to vulnerable populations, offering operational assistance for the digital transition of the local media outlets that keep them informed day after day, particularly on the impact of environmental and climate change.
The ePOP project, initiated by RFI Planète Radio in partnership with the IRD (French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development), invites participants to record on video how people around the world feel about the consequences of global change, particularly relating to the climate and environment.