Independent Media Association launches tonight
It has been in the planning stages for some time, but tonight the Belize Independent Media Association will hold its official launch. BIMA’s ten founding members include owners and editors of various media houses who represent radio, television, and print. According to pro-tem president Ann Marie Williams, the overall goal is to promote freedom of expression and access to information.
Ann Marie Williams, Pro-tem President, BIMA
“One of its aims is also to promote research and education of its people in the media and to provide access to all groups and to report issues in the media without fear or favour.”
“The Belize Independent Media Association is very important because individual media houses are important; the work that they do, the stories they tell, the causes they champion. But as a collective group we are stronger in numbers and we can make change.”
“We all make a difference each in our own way, but coming together as a collective, organised body we can make change and I think that is the important thing. But as we go along we are hoping that we will strengthen and we can only move forward.”
Founding members of BIMA are KREM Radio, LOVE FM, MORE FM, and ESTEREO AMOR; TV stations Channel Five, Channel Seven, and KREM; along with the Amandala and Reporter newspapers. The keynote address at tonight’s launch will be given by Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh.
