Name:
THEODORE FOLKE
Title of
position: CHIEF, VIDEO UNIT, MONUSCO
Date of
End of Assignment Report: 23 JULY , 2012
PART I: A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF 56 MONTHS AS
CHIEF OF MONUC/MONUSCO VIDEO UNIT:
Since
MONUC/MONUSCO Video Unit operated under direct supervision of Director P.I.D,
and was totally dependent upon Director P.I.D.’s interpretation of the Mandate,
I shall divide my tenure into 7 parts, each one representing a different
Director/O.I.C. P.I.D. By any standards, however, 7 different directors over the
course of 56 months is a very high management turnover. As shall be seen, this
instability of senior management made continuity of mandate interpretation and
communications strategy more than difficult.
25
November, 2007-August,
2008 I began my assignment in Kinshasa as Chief of the MONUC Video Unit. My
first supervisor was Mario Zamorano, Director, Division of Public Information,
and Willam Lacy Swing was SRSG. I found
a Video Unit consisting of a P-3 Video Producer, 4 Internal f/s 4 Editors, two
national staff cameramen, a sound engineer and a head writer. At first glance,
this was an impressive line up, though the lack of balance between editors and
cameraman was an obvious problem. The only international cameraman in the unit
was Carlo Ontal, a P-3 Video Producer who had been acting as OIC
. Mario immediately redeployed Carlo to Goma to set up a production office in
the East on my arrival. This was a very
talented group, and I would like to extend my appreciation to my predecessors
Yasmina Bouziane and Isabelle Abric for having assembled this team, which has
remained intact until this year. In this respect, the Video Unit was a unique
entity within the Division of Public Information, which was notorious for
internal strife. Over the next 4 ½ years, I was periodically reminded that this
notoriety was well deserved, and one of my main accomplishments was keeping the
Video Unit insulated from the various
attempts to break us up and drag us into the fray. I am very proud to say that
there was 100% solidarity within the Video Unit throughout my 4½ years.
Cohesion of this kind with a minimum of friction made work a pleasure, and
enabled us to focus on quality.
Equipment was impressive: I found an office equipped with the latest
Final Cut Pro software, HD Sony cameras, and a Systems contract which enabled
us to order compatible replacements without going through the time-consuming
ordeal of Procurement. This Systems contract enabled us to have
working equipment at all times in a country with no repair services.
Our primary task was a weekly
news program called LA SEMAINE EN BREF. MONUC paid Congolese TV stations around the
country some $300,000 per annum to broadcast the c. 5 minute program for 30 minutes per week.
Initially, broadcast was Analog, so sound and picture quality was poor, and
there were no feedback mechanisms. Personally, I found LA SEMAINE EN BREF
archaic in form, with a patronizing voice of God narration over images of VIP
sound bites – traditionally safe UN fare
designed to flatter bosses and avoid controversy. OK for World War II newsreel,
but hardly 21st Century. However,
I had just arrived, and Mario liked it, so it remained unchanged.
Perhaps
the major event during this period was the abrupt departure of Mr. Swing in early
2008, just before the signing of the historic Goma Peace Accords. The timing
was peculiar, since Mr, Swing had been SRSG for 5 years, and the Goma Peace
Accords were to be the climax of his life’s work as a diplomat in central
Africa. It was no secret that the Congolese, including President Kabila,
himself, adored Mr. Swing; they were startled when Mr. Swing left before his
successor, Alan Doss, arrived , and there was no handover ceremony. Mr. Doss’ first edict to
us was a Soviet-style ban on all images of his predecessor. Mr. Doss also
clearly had no use for Mario, and refused to meet with him until Mario’s
departure, which made it impossible to create a PID strategy for the new
mandate of 2008.
Ironically, as a lame duck for 6
months, Mario did give us more latitude, and we used this interlude to make what
I think were two of our best efforts – MONUC HUMAN RIGHTS, a 22 minute documentary
in English on the work of the Human Rights Division, which was broadcast
worldwide by DPI for International Human
Rights day in December. 2008.This documentary dealt with one of the key
dilemmas of the MONUC Mission :how to protect Human Rights in a country where
there were few.
To counteract the periodic
disinformation campaigns against the mission, and their often absurd
allegations, we created a Comic Q&A show called LE PROFESSEUR REPOND! , featuring a zany
Congolese professor created by the Congolese mime Mira Mihkenza, who was well
known for his music video COCO SOUING, an affectionate send-up
of Mr. Swing produced by Mr. Mihkenza himself.
One of my
first goals had been to create a YouTube channel for MONUC, to help off
set some
of the negative portrayals of MONUC in that medium by groups like Staf
Brenda Bili. The result
was www.YouTube.com/MONUCVIDEO, and www.Facebook.com/MONUCVIDEO,
which exist to this day, with most of
our programs from 2008-2012., including LE
PROFESSEUR REPOND!
During my first year, my main priority was getting to know the team, and
to create a positive
working environment through established daily routines, clear directives
and goals, as well as an open communications flow so everyone knew what was
expected, and that I welcomed
feedback. It has been my
experience that good creative talent needs to be treated with respect.
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