Page 46 - voice-international-oct2022

Tunisia

Covering Local Democracy:

The Mourasiloun Program

free press fueled by expert
journalism is the backbone of
A any democracy. Journalists
hold people in power to account,
expose wrongdoing and provide
citizens with the knowledge they need
to make informed decisions. Similarly,
local reporting covers local public
affairs, holds local elites accountable,
provides a forum for discussion and ties
communities together by giving them a
sense of purpose and civic engagement within their and local governance; journalistic genres; journalism
localities. However, when local media professionals ethics; inclusive journalism; Mobile Journalism
lack the necessary resources, knowledge and tools, (MoJo) and photojournalism; how to effectively
they struggle to play this role. This is especially true produce stories for the web and social media; tools
outside of the capital, Tunis and in remote regional for fact-checking, data journalism and visualization;
areas, where journalists have little financial and and safety and security for journalists.
professional capacity. Applying their new skills and knowledge, the
With funding from the Swiss Agency for Mourasiloun collectively produced 128 media
Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United pieces. As a final project, each journalist produced
Kingdom Foreign Commonwealth Department a professional-quality, long-form news report
Office (FCDO), the International Foundation for covering a local story from their municipality.
Electoral Systems Among others, the
(IFES) implemented pieces covered topics
a program entitled I gained a lot of knowledge in the fields of decentralization such as campaign
Local Democracy and investigative journalism by participating in Mourasiloun. promises made by
Reporters (LDRs), I used these skills in my reporting when I conducted a survey municipal councilors
or Mourasiloun through an e-questionnaire, in which they evaluated the about providing
(“Reporters” in Arabic). municipal work and their vision of local journalism while basic services to
Through a competitive presenting them with practical suggestions to improve their constituencies
selection process that municipal work. once elected; the
garnered more than - Slah Eddine Krimi, Journalist criminalization and
200 applications, social exclusion of the
24 motivated LGBTQIA+ community
Mourasiloun from local government
(17 women and seven men from 16 different positions; evaluation of the Utique municipality’s
governorates) from both citizen and professional (Bizerte) participatory approach to governance;
media outlets were identified. Through a series of political participation of minority communities, such
workshops, the Mourasiloun were waived on issues as Tunisian Jews and Amazigh, in municipal work
related to the legal framework for decentralization in Djerba; the role of municipalities in eliminating

46 | VoICE International | October 2022