SECTOR 4 The media practice high levels of professional standards. 4.1 The media follow voluntary codes of professional standards, which are enforced by self-regulatory bodies that deal with complaints from the public. The Observatoire Togolais des Médias (OTM) is the self-regulatory body of the Togolese media and acts as a tribunal of peers. The association was created in November 1999 at the initiative of five professional organisations (UJIT, SAINT JOP, SYNLICO, Maison de la Presse, ATEPP), and continues to benefit from the pooling of resources which gives it added clout. In 2002, together with all the individual professional organisations, OTM developed a code of conduct for journalists and communication technicians. The self-regulatory body holds hearings between complainants and journalists and uses these to remind the latter of their professional and moral obligations in the exercise of their profession. The OTM also organises seminars to train media practitioners and sensitise them on professional standards and the code of ethics. There are apparently large numbers of complaints brought against the media for breaches of ethical norms and professional standards. However, the association no longer seems to enjoy the confidence of all stakeholders. Its detractors accuse the OTM of consistently favouring the authorities in some of its decisions and of being too close to the HAAC. The credibility of members is also questioned. Nevertheless, the self-regulatory body still exercises considerable influence because the outcomes of its deliberations, though not binding in themselves, are taken into account in the allocation of aid to the press. In 2007, the National Press Board had to make an “appeal for the professional reporting of information” following violent demonstrations in the Marcory (Abidjan) neighbourhood in reaction to a newspaper article on the death of a house worker beaten by her boss. The CNP stated in its press release that “certain newspapers, in their Thursday 21 June 2007 edition, reported that the house worker was dead whereas she is well and truly alive. This information, published without being verified in the least, could have had more serious consequences on the social climate, on the lives and properties of the community to which the accused person belongs”. 122 AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TOGO 2010