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Farewell Reception for Information Officer Judith Ravin

At the Residence of Public Affairs Officer Lonnie Kelley

REMARKS BY JUDITH RAVIN

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Representatives of the Ministry of External Affairs,
Representatives of the Ministry of Communication,
Chargé d’Affaires Rick Nelson and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Men and women of the press,
Colleagues and friends and my dear husband,

This evening, for me, is really about you. It is an opportunity for me to thank each of you for having contributed to making my work in Cameroon over the last two years truly meaningful. It is also the result of the U.S. Embassy’s wish to honor the men and women of the Cameroonian press. Every day, you bring us a crucial slice of life, as we tune in, log on, scan the headlines and surf the channels in search of information and the general pulse of what is happening around us.

Within the strata of Cameroonian society, the media has carved out its place.  This hard-earned niche is as sacred as it is necessary. Like a trusted mirror, all truly democratic societies need the press to reflect on how well their actors, policies, and institutions are doing.

The excellent relationship that the U.S. Embassy enjoys with the media is our best show of the respect we have for your work. Thank you for your daily output, press corps Cameroon and correspondents of the international media, from the Far North to the southern-most reaches of the country.

Granted, it is not always easy to accompany the U.S. Embassy on its media excursion tours. Hiking through the Dja Reserve, the unexpected overnight on the high seas with the U.S. Navy off the coast of Limbe, and the visit to Campo Ma’an National Park are but a few examples of your good sportsmanship and efforts to keep pace with the demands of your profession, wherever the news takes you.

My tenure saw collaborative media programming with CAMASEJ, le Réseau des journalistes du septentrion, ESSTIC, Club Média Ouest, the British High Commission, UNESCO, United Nations Information Center, Bernard Fonlon Journalism Academy, Radio Tiemeni Siantou, and JAFEC, among others.  These productive partnerships are the way of the future and should continue. As for the Media House, or La Maison de la Communication, the U.S. Embassy holds particular hope that the Ministry of Communication will renew its commitment to journalists in the capital city through revitalization of this structure.

Multiple challenges confront the media in Cameroon: access to official sources of information, lack of adequate salaries, the corrosive culture of envelope payoffs, the high cost of audiovisual licenses for the private media, and the danger of charlatans who pose as journalists without so much as a modicum of ethics or scruples. Journalists in Cameroon must also fight against a more subtle undercurrent, the intimate enemy of all in the media profession: self-censorship. Circumnavigation of this quiet truth is not simple.

As part of the two-way street that constitutes our relationship with the press, the U.S. Embassy makes it a point to publicly underscore your criticial role as a counterweight in the pillars that call society to order. Tonight is but another heartfelt public statement to that effect.

Incoming Press Attaché Matthew Miller arrives next month. Just as I became “the new Jose Santacana” in April 2006, so, too, will Matt briefly become “the new Judith Ravin.” Until he settles in, it is business as usual for the U.S. Embassy Press Section. Under the direction of Public Affairs Officer Lonnie Kelley, we pledge continued support for the media through Department of State training workshops, seminars, discussion forums, documentation and International Visitors programs.

As always, capable colleagues Bouba Monglo and Isabelle Wega Kame-Domguia – the fine-tuned Embassy “press machine” duo – remain available to you, as does the entire U.S. Embassy Information Resource Center staff and Public Affairs technicians Justin Nkengne and Augustin Zeufack.

Like all smooth-running machines, it is the aggregate parts that lead to performance. I would like to publicly acknowledge, and profusely thank, the excellent caliber of each and every one of my fifteen Public Affairs colleagues in bringing to Cameroon creative U.S. Mission programming.

In the sincerest of terms, once again, I thank all of you, our guests tonight, for your part in sharing the spirit of Cameroon with me, indelibly, forever.