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Momodou
Denmark
11808 Posts |
 Posted - 14 Mar 2008 : 15:34:27
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Journalists Benefit From GPU Week-Long Training
By Isatou Bittaye
A week long training workshop organised by Gambia Media Support (GAMES) and The Gambia Press Union (GPU) for journalists ended on Wednesday at the GPU office. Speaking at the closing, a trainer Ms. Eva Dalgaard Adreassen said that they achieved a lot in the training between the groups. She added that one cannot be a good journalist without improvement on his/her work and this can be achieved through training. Ms. Eva urged journalists to practice what they have learnt in doing their work and also use the knowledge and skills of their colleagues to improve on their work. She said journalists should be sharing experiences, noting that one can criticize but objectively on other's report and in that way all of you will improve in your work.
Buttressing on the issues they have learnt, a trainee, Bubacarr K. Sowe said they have learnt how to put in the skills of team work, news writing, mapping, interviews, head lining and source of information. He said his group have been trained on these issues and they learnt a lot.
Saul Saidy a trainee said his group was trained on photo journalism. He said they dealt with issues such as ethics of taking pictures, and the need for photo journalism. He said they also learnt basic skills of using camera. Saidy buttressed on the need for photos in the strory, noting that sometimes it is the picture which sells the paper and it tells what the story is about. He emphasized for the need for photo journalists in media houses.
A Board member of GPU and Editor-in chief of Foroyaa Newspaper, Mr. Sam Sarr, buttressed on the difficulties faced by media houses. Mr. Sarr said lack of resources play a great role in the low level of output by reporters. He said media houses are also experiencing practical problems which need to be resolved. He added that the high tax rate on media houses also impacted on their output because it makes them encounter difficulties in remunerating reporters and that also contributes to the reporters? output. Mr. Sarr also dilated on the need for photos in stories.
At the end of the closing ceremony, this reporter caught up with some of the trainees who expressed views on the training.
Bubacarr K. Sowe, Reporter Foroyaa Newspaper
The training is very beneficial because it will improve my work to a great extent and that will help tell my story to the readers. The skills I learnt will be used and I will disseminate it to my colleagues and by using the new skills, it will improve the output of the paper. I am very much grateful to the organizers and I also called on them to widen the programme so that many reporters will benefit from the skills of other journalists who are working in a different environment. I also thanked Eva, my training instructor, for the encouragement and support she has given me during the week long training. I was under the section of News and Feature writing and I gained a lot from the training.
Nfamara Jawneh, Reporter, Point Newspaper
I was under the section of photo journalism and definitely I gained a lot from the training. New skills were acquired during the training and I hope that this kind of training will continue so that more people would benefit from it. I am very grateful to my training instructor, Mr. Troels, and the GPU. Capacity building is very vital in any given profession and this training will help me a lot in my work.
Saul Saidy, Reporter News and Report
I learnt a lot in the training as I was under the photo journalism group. I have also seen the importance and there is need to take it up in all media houses. It enlightened me and it will have a great impact on my work. I thanked the trainers for given us knowledge and skills.
Mr. Troels Norlem, Trainer From Denmark
We have achieved a lot in the training because the participants are more concerned with the importance of the training. They were also aware of the need for photo journalism and its importance because pictures make the paper and story easy to understand. We also talked about technical things and different uses of the camera. We are working in Denmark and will try to change and adjust the time and see what method would suit the participants. This is the 3rd training programme but the first of its kind because it is the first time that photo journalism has been introduced.
The kind of training will be part of our future plans and many journalists will benefit from it as time goes on. The participants were trained on different aspects including editorial management, radio reporting, newspaper reporting, on line reporting, photo journalism and layout.
Source: Foroyaa Newspaper Burning Issues
Issue No. 31/2008, 14-16 2008
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