The news and current affairs production outfit, “Cotton Tree News” (CTN) is back. It has re-launched its programmes which go out from Radio Mount Aureol, a teaching radio stations at Fourah Bay College in Freetown, on 107.3 FM and on community radio stations throughout the country.
According to a press release, CTN's programmes are built around its "flagship news bulletin, a credible and professional source for breaking news in Sierra Leone" which start at 6:30 AM with CTN Today and ends in the evening with Inside Salone. Their programmes bring together "decision makers, experts and civil society in lively and informative debates" the release adds.
It has a professional staff of 37 who work closely mentoring and collaborating with a team of Mass Communication student interns, and sees training and capacity building as "an important part of CTN’s mandate, and is integral to its partnerships with community radios".
Created in 2007 through a partnership between Fourah Bay College and the Swiss organisation Fondation Hirondelle, CTN is being run locally by FBC since 2011 and is currently supported by the University of Sierra Leone and Hirondelle USA with a grant from The Ford Foundation.
"The Ford Foundation grant will address an acute and urgent need for programming on all aspects of violence against women and children. CTN will produce and broadcast a radio campaign that will include informational, fact based messages in Krio and local languages, weekly features and discussion programming as well as journalism training on coverage of sensitive topics" the release adds.
(C) Politico 28/01/14
