Our experts

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CFI calls upon the very best level of expertise in the French audiovisual sector by relying on a permanent body of 800 professionals who are involved with CFI so as to ensure their skills are used to benefit their counterparts working at media groups in the southern hemisphere.

In 2010, 226 men and women in the media sector participated in missions for CFI across 67 different countries. Approximately one quarter of these people work in the France Télévisions Group, the primary shareholder of CFI. Beyond this privileged partnership, CFI is additionally able to call upon the services of staff from across many other sectors of the media: Arte, France 24, RFI, Rue 89, TV5 Monde, Canal+, INA, BFM TV, CSA, DGMIC, Libération.fr, OWNI.

A wide range of skills

Experts commissioned by CFI are active professionals called upon due to their current role, background and desire to be involved in development assistance. Journalists, producers, image reports, commentators, editors and programme or organisational directors constitute some of the professions which are constantly being renewed and enriched with new talent, such as webmasters, bloggers or wed documenters.

CFI additionally encourages the transfer of skills within the group, by calling upon foreign professionals, whether or not trained by CFI, such as Lelia Mezher, Lebanese journalist at L’Orient-Le Jour, who supported young Palestinian bloggers in the An-Nathra Project.

Expert testimonies

Jérôme Bony, renowned reporter for France Télévisions, and having worked on a project for CFI in Iraq prior to the legislative elections: “We were quickly caught up by the reality of the situation in the country. The majority of the people there work for media which was controlled by political parties. Once of our journalists, for example, found a bomb where he was living following an article about the disappearance of international funds”.

Gilles Poplin, graphic designer, proposed to Thai PBS a new method for defining their new graphics chart: “I was entirely surprised by their proposals when they realised that they had the lead in what they were doing”.

Françoise Tassera, programming specialist, has undertaken many projects for CFI in order to assist channels in structuring programming: “The broadcasting strategies which we work on with them are not always immediately applicable but it so happens that it raises their awareness and this information provides them with arguments to promote and defend their channel to directors or sometimes authorities”.

Mathieu Despiau, Production Journalist, responsible for supporting a team during the preparation of the World Cup in South Africa: “It was an experience rich in human relations, due to the density of the FIFA competition, production restrictions and the desire to truly portray to the continent the very passion which they were experiencing”.