A convention to that effect was signed in Douala on Saturday, May 3, 2014.

News reporting as well as the lives and living conditions of those involved in journalism practice have once again come into the spotlight. Saturday, May 3, 2014, was the International Press Freedom Day and Douala, like other parts of the country, joined the world to reflect on the conditions of media men and women and their future.

In the port city, Douala, emphasis was on improving the living conditions of journalists, cognisant of the fact that, “We cannot have press freedom when journalists live in conditions of corruption, poverty or fear,” as stated by the International Federation of Journalists. Saint Augustin noted, “A minimum level of wellbeing is needed for the practice of virtue”. In line with this, was the signing of a Convention between journalists and lawyers in Douala.

The President of the Cameroon Employed Journalists Trade Union (CEJTU), Norbert Tchana Nganté, signed the convention on behalf of his trade union while Barrister-at-law, Michel Djomo, reached out on the convention in his capacity as President of the Group of Lawyers Advising Journalists.

The purpose is to assist journalists who continuously face threats, live in fear, face or undergo arbitrary imprisonments and suffer precarious living conditions from their employers and from other individuals who violate the rights of the journalists. Another important activity was negotiations towards the creation of an Independent Journalism Cooperative in partnership with the Association of Independent Journalists of Quebec, announced for the days ahead.

A debate on corruption in the media with emphasis on a Code of good conduct for the fight against corruption in the media in Cameroon was also held. Led by the Regional Director of CRTV in the Littoral, Serge Ngando Ntone, and moderated by Alphonse Jene, reporter for the daily “La Nouvelle Expression”, press men and women from across national and international media structures took part in the debate.