Who We Are
“Experience you can trust”
Media&Democracy Group’s greatest strength lies in the breadth of its members’ field experience, which brings a maturity of journalistic knowledge, a deep understanding of the importance of media professionalism for democratic development, and a capacity for innovation, flexibility and perseverance to every initiative. M&DG’s core team of trainers is supported by Associates from around the world who bring additional skills, insights and experience as required.
As a non-profit organization Media&Democracy Group’s services and operations are conducted by its Senior Associates. The organization is governed by an independent board of media and development professionals. M&DG does not have independent funding and depends on financing from outside sources to deliver its services.
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Luis Caceres | ||||||||
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| Projects Director | |||||||||
| info@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Luis Caceres has managed several international development projects, mostly in the global health field, over the past ten years with organizations such as the International Development Research Centre and the Canadian Public Health Association. He has also worked overseas with non-profits on civil society development issues in Paraguay, Mexico, Mozambique, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Serbia. He speaks English, French, and Spanish. | |||||||||
Senior Associates |
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John Keating | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
| jkeating@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| John Keating is a Canadian reporter, photographer and journalism trainer. Over the past three decades, he has worked in print, TV, radio and online, contributing to news organizations such as Time, The Toronto Star, CBC Radio, CBC TV news and CBC News Online. John has trained parliamentary reporters in Nepal, organized local election coverage in Cambodia and helped reporters cover Afghanistan’s first presidential election. He has worked in many countries, including the Palestinian Territories, Kyrgyzstan, Brunei, Guyana, Kenya and Sudan. | |||||||||
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Chris Cobb
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Vice President
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| ccobb@mediaanddemocracy.ca |
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| Chris Cobb is a veteran reporter with the Ottawa Citizen. He has extensive experience in international journalism training, particularly through the Commonwealth Journalists’ Association. His recent experience includes election monitoring in Uganda and newsroom training in Rwanda. Chris also recently won the Joan Gullen Award for excellence in reporting on social issues for his multi-part series “Ottawa’s Dirty Little Secret” on the crack cocaine problem in the capital. | |||||||||
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| Treasurer | |||||||||
| drushton@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Doug Rushton has worked in print, radio, the Internet, and, primarily, television news. He has worked for private and public broadcasters as a reporter, producer and manager. He has trained journalists in Cambodia,Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ethiopia, Qatar, Syria, Nunavut in northern Canada, and in Vancouver, where he lives. He has taught media law to journalism students and is a consultant and media trainer for NGOs. Rushton believes the health, vibrancy and legitimacy of a democracy runs in direct proportion to the degree to which free and independent journalism is practiced. | |||||||||
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François Bugingo | ||||||||
| francois@mediaanddemocracy.ca |
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| François Bugingo is a Quebec-based television and radio host, commentator and author, specializing in international affairs. Born to Rwandan refugees in the Congo, François created the first francophone newspaper in post-genocide Rwanda. As a reporter François has travelled the world and covered many conflicts, including Egypt, Libya and Côte d’Ivoire. He has a deep knowledge of international affairs. He is founder and past president of Reporters Without Borders Canada, and is still very much engaged in the promotion of press freedoms and the support of journalists around the world. Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/g7uTLu Twitter: @FrancoisBugingo | |||||||||
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Jaime Little | ||||||||
| jlittle@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Jaime Little is a Canadian journalist and trainer based in Montreal, Quebec. After a few years covering Canada’s northern territories for CBC radio, Jaime went to Afghanistan where she spent the better part of a year and a half setting up local women-run radio stations and training journalists. Between stints at CBC she also taught radio courses at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and spent six months in eastern Chad, working with novice journalists and Darfuri refugees to produce radio programs dealing with gender based violence. Jaime currently produces radio shows in Cree and French for the remote aboriginal communities of northern Quebec. | |||||||||
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Gabriela Mayorquín | ||||||||
| gmayorquin@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Gabriela Mayorquín is a freelance journalist, translator and development consultant presently collaborating with Radio Canada International in Montreal as producer and announcer. She has been involved in the local and international community radio movement for 10 years, as coordinator of international radio campaigns, international projects and as trainer for AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters). Gabriela has international experience in Asia and Latin America. She speaks English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and can get by in Nepali! | |||||||||
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Derek Quinn | ||||||||
| dquinn@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Derek Quinn has 35 years of professional media experience, including 30 years with the international service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation where he was responsible for overseas reporting, writing, and the coordinating and assignment desk for broadcasts in several languages. He has also been active in international development work for more than 20 years on projects in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America and Asia. Derek speaks English, French, German, Spanish and Russian. |
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Ken Wolff | ||||||||
| kwolff@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Ken Wolff is one of our multi-media trainers. He is currently working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as senior producer of cbcsports.ca. Ken started the cbc.ca news site and built it into one of the strongest in the country. He worked as a radio producer for 15 years, producing daily news shows for CBC and also worked at CBC television news. He trained radio reporters in the local and national election campaigns in Cambodia. He also teaches a course for Ryerson University on writing for the web and is a CBC trainer, specializing in radio reporting. Ken produced the cbc.ca Olympic website in 2008. | |||||||||
Associates |
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| M&DG also relies on the vast expertise of the following Associates, who are based in Canada, as well as in Paris, France, Copenhagen, Denmark and Amman, Jordan: | |||||||||
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Denise Rudnicki, specialist in parliamentary reporting, media and elections and a recognized expert in government communications.
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Donald Spandier, who has produced and directed documentaries for CBC Television for more than 20 years, and is currently senior producer of documentaries for CBC’s flagship news show The National.
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| Elaine Cobbe, a seasoned news journalist with more than 20 years experience covering international events for print and broadcast media. | |||||||||
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Stephen Leahy, a science and environment journalist for 16 years, who writes for leading publications in several countries and is the science and environment correspondent for the Rome-based Inter Press Service News Agency.
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Henrik Keith Hansen, who has worked in TV, radio, newspaper, and integrated media for 20 years in the fields of election coverage, media ethics, and media management.
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Marc Gage, who has more than 25 years experience as a television reporter, executive producer, news manager, media trainer and international communications specialist.
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Saad Hattar, journalist and media trainer with 25 years of experience in print and radio journalism throughout the Arab world.
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M&DG Associates can be reached at info@mediaanddemocracy.ca
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Board of Directors |
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| Media&Democracy Group has an independent Board of Directors that oversees the executive and vets training initiatives | |||||||||
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Ross Howard
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| rhoward@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Ross Howard is a Canadian journalist and trainer specializing in media in conflict and democratization. A former Globe and Mail reporter and a journalism instructor at Langara College in Vancouver, he has trained journalists widely including in Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Nepal, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, Kenya, the Baltic States, and the U.S. He is author of Conflict Sensitive Journalism: a handbook; the new UNESCO publication Conflict Sensitive Reporting: state of the art and model curriculum; Media+Elections: An Elections Reporting Handbook; co-author of Radio Talkshows for Peacebuilding; and co-editor of The Power of Media and an experienced evaluator of media environments and media development initiatives. | |||||||||
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Shelley Robinson | ||||||||
| srobinson@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Shelley Robinson is currently acting as M&DG’s Projects Manager. She has worked in community media since 1994 and is passionate about its ability to let people speak for themselves and the places they come from. She ran a newspaper on the peaceline in West Belfast, Northern Ireland and a community radio station in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She also worked with women’s community radio in Afghanistan and managed a media development project in Rwanda. She is currently the Executive Director of the National Campus and Community Radio Association in Ottawa and is writing her Masters thesis at Carleton University on the possibilities of people who are homeless or living in shelters acting as citizen journalists. | |||||||||
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Michael McIvor | ||||||||
| mmcivor@mediaanddemocracy.ca | |||||||||
| Michael McIvor has a long career in journalism and media development. He was a CBC correspondent in Washington, Moscow and London and reported extensively from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. He was Head of Media Development for the OSCE in Kosovo and has done media training in a number of countries. Michael has drafted public broadcasting statutes in Mongolia and Kosovo and election rules of conduct for media in various countries. He facilitated creation of a degree program for broadcast journalism in Macedonia and has conducted in-house training in all aspects of operating TV and radio stations. | |||||||||
