PERSONAL STATEMENT | by Jason Brown
There seems to be some concerns that I am involved in CIJA to "make money for Jason Brown."
One person at the meeting two weeks also raised the concern that it was important to avoid the appearance that CIJA was for my own "agenda" rather than concentrating on training.
This is a bit confusing: the one person who said this is the same person who, at our first meeting, told me not to start weekly training sessions because "let's not rush into things."
First, let me answer those questions transparently and acccountably.
Yes, I do have an agenda.
Yes, I do want to make money from my involvement with CIJA.
First, my agenda.
My agenda is to get CIJA going again so that we can discuss issues facing the industry including, as I have said several times already, training.
Secondly, making money.
Everyone in the industry is currently drawing a regular salary, except me.
No one else seems to be doing anything to get CIJA (and training) going again, except me.
Training, professional and industry development does not happen by magic. It takes a lot of time and effort.
Not just hours, or days, but weeks and months. I have a lot of ideas to help develop the industry and professionalism but I cannot do it for free because I have to eat and pay rent! And why shouldn't we get funding for industry development? Not just me, but as many of us as possible. Let's grow the pie that we have, instead of fighting over crumbs that are left over.
To make a pie, however, you have to start somewhere. And if one thing has been proven over the last 10 years it is that everyone in the daily and weekly media is too busy to do anything about industry development on a sustainable basis. So let me come right out and say it: support me in my endeavours to develop CIJA and develop the industry. There is tens of thousands - hundreds of thousands of dollars - in aid and other funding available. But nothing will happen if we split up after one meeting and won't talk with each other!
Someone also suggested that we have a "quiet chat" about CIJA. I don't like quiet chats. Too many people in too many countries suffer from the effects of too many quiet chats. Even people who are not hiding anything can get caught up in unintentional complications when they rely on quiet chats. I know I have. I think we as journalists and as potential members of CIJA have an opportunity to provide information leadership and conduct our affairs transparently and accountably. Not once a year. Or even once a month. But all the time, in real-time.
Like, right here and now, like, in this email.
But for CIJA to be a success we need to take ourselves seriously and not be satisfied with crumbs from the table. We need to think bigger, and imagine wider horizons. All over the world, there are aid donors crying out for good projects to promote good governance. We could be setting an industry example, and providing leadership for the whole region.
To do that, we need to follow the example set by the Chamber of Commerce and appoint someone to do secretariat work full-time. To get funding for something like that, we need to begin accessing aid funding. To do that, we need someone to write the applications. To do that, someone needs to make some money from training and other proposals so that person can survive. You need money.
So do I!
In doing it this way, through CIJA, my colleagues retain control. If, for example, I don't spread the benefits, and keep everything for myself, then you can vote me off whatever position I have, or sack me for nonperformance. But at least the applications will have been written, projects approved and funding accessed.
Or, we can forget the whole thing, and I can go off and do it for myself. But before I do let me also make it clear that it was members of the industry that asked me to "do something" about getting a journalists association up and running.
After some months - years - of not feeling confident enough because of earlier failures, I finally responded to these repeated requests last month. This followed a trip I was given to the Pacific Women's Bureau at SPC in Noumea opened my eyes to regional realities and gave me a much better idea of what's possible and what's not. It also gave me valuable perspective on my work for the AusAID-funded Pacific Media and Communication Facility as country researcher for the Cook Islands. Researching the country chapter was mind bendingly difficult, but the
finished product is now giving me me hugely valuable insights into why our media is the way it is. Download the report. Read it for yourself. Read what our colleagues have to say. Read the suggestions for industry development. Then let me do my best to put your ideas into action. Now that I am finally ready, however, some of my colleagues seem to be having second thoughts.
It's understandable.
Anything new can be cause for doubt. What's important is that we keep meeting to discuss those doubts.
Just not showing up for meetings is not an option.
It's not only unprofessional, it makes me feel
shy sitting at Mama's Cafe all on my own.
> CIJA (in reformation) meets every Monday at 12 noon. There is a suggestion to change the meeting to 11am to avoid the lunch rush.
