Professionalizing Audio Visual Debates : NCC Drilled Moderators

It was a busy day for the President of the National Communication Council (NCC) and team, as they spent the entire Friday, September 2nd in Douala to drilled journalists who present television and radio debates on how to better anchor their programmes. It is on record that some of the radio and Television debates sometimes threaten the peace of the nation and some moderators of these debates are not helping matters. In effect, Friday’s conclave dubbed “NCC Coffee Talks” was a veritable moment for audio-visual moderators in Douala to receive lessons on how to handle their programmes in a more professional manner.  
The coffee talk that was moderated by the president of the National Communication Council Joseph Chebongkeng Kalabubsu saw speakers like Dr. Charles Siaga, Alain Belibi and Tehwi Lambiv, who all cautioned the journalists to be balanced, neutral, and stay within the confines of the profession during moderation. For renowned journalist Tehwi Lambiv, “moderators have to play the role both on air and off the air, they should be able to hide their emotions and ensure that all panelists toe the line while the debate is on”.
Meanwhile, Alain Belibi advised journalists to always brief their guests before going on air. To him, “there must be a starting point and a finishing point and the moderator should be able to play the role of the referee”. He was quick to request journalists to be able to select invitees who are relevant to the topic and they should always try to diversify their panel most often. For Dr. Charles Siaga, the level of hate speech online is now bee...