Dili’s regional media house opens

1 Apr 2010

Dili’s regional media house opens

Dili, 01 April 2010 - While it has been operational as a virtual media center for more than three years, Dili now officially boasts a Regional Media House that will address the needs of journalists from the districts of Dili, Manaututu and Liquica.


The regional media houses will greatly facilitate the work of district journalists and allow them to access important resources including free use of internet and equipment such as tape recorders and digital cameras, and utilize audio-visual production facilities. They can even upload multi-media packages via high-speed internet.
"The media houses are important because they provide a safe place for journalists to work and gives them the tools they need to do their job," said Chuck Rice, Country Director for the International Center for Journalists, (ICFJ). "Until the media houses opened, it was very difficult for the journalists to get their stories to Dili. But now, because of the high speed internet, a reporter can get send their story from a remote district and have it published in a national daily the same day."
Students of the Social Communication programme that ICFJ supports at the National University of Timor-Leste will also be able to use the computer lab.
The regional media house in Dili will be temporarily based at the ICFJ compound while its permanent location is finalized. This media house is the fifth in a network of six regional houses that have opened in the country. The first such house opened in Baucau has been servicing district-based journalists since January 2008 while the other three houses in Ermera, Oecussi and Suai opened in 2009. A sixth regional media house will open in Maubisse later this year.
The regional media house project is a joint initiative of the International Center for Journalists, the Timor-Leste Journalists' Association, the Syndicate for Journalists Timor-Leste, the Center for Investigative Journalists, the Timor-Leste Photographers' Association and the Community Radio Association Timor-Leste. This is a USAID/AUSAid funded project.
UNMIT's media team works with ICFJ to capacity build local journalists, as well as the national development NGO, the Timor-Leste Media Development Centre.