REFRAM celebrates its 10th anniversary and innovates on content and formats

The 5th Conference of the “Réseau francophone des régulateurs des medias” (REFRAM), held from 24 to 25 October 2017 in Geneva, brought together 63 participants, including 45 representatives from 19 French-speaking media regulatory authorities. Organised by the Swiss regulator OFCOM with the support of the “Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie” (OIF), this event was an opportunity to share experiences and exchanges on quality issues in the field of audiovisual regulation.

The conference, which marked the 10th anniversary of the network, was an opportunity to look back on the achievements of the platform but also to innovate in terms of content and format.

• The first session focused on quality assurance in the media field and was devoted to the presentation of the ISAS M 9001 standard and the benefits of a management system applied to business management in the media field and the relevance of such an approach to regulation.

• During a workshop on the training of journalists, participants discussed the expectations, difficulties and perspectives of journalism training in different contexts.

• A third session was devoted to the presentation of the method developed by the EBU called “peer-to-peer review",  a dedicated analysis tool which enables EBU members to assess the conformity of their actions with the public service mission entrusted to them. The presentation was followed by a joint discussion and reflection, conducted in the participative "world cafe" mode, on the possible adaptation of the method to the world of media regulation.

• As part of a session called "Agora" in reference to the discussion forum of ancient Greece, participants also had the opportunity to present topics of their choice in an interactive way, thus provoking discussion with their colleagues. This operation highlighted processes or projects that could be considered as "best practice" for other members of the network.

Following the conference, the presidency of the network was entrusted for two years to Philipp Metzger, Director of the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). Nouri Lajmi, President of the Tunisian HAICA, takes over the vice-chairmanship of REFRAM. A roadmap, which will later be transformed into an action plan, has been approved by REFRAM members for the next two years.

EPRA was represented at the event by its Secretary General, Emmanuelle Machet, who was invited to present a summary of the event as seen from the perspective of another network of broadcasting regulators.

The REFRAM was created in Ouagadougou on 1 July 2007 with the objective to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of information on issues of common interest and contributes to training and cooperation efforts among its members.

• Press release (FR)
• Details and documents of the 5th REFRAM Presidents' Conference (FR)

Source: Websites of REFRAM and Swiss OFCOM