Journalists in West Africa trained on media freedom and responsibility
A two-week capacity building training on media freedom and responsibility for 15 journalists from the West Africa has ended in Accra.
The training organized by the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung Gmbh (InWent), a non-governmental organization based in Germany, was aimed at equipping journalists with the needed skills in conflict reporting to promote peace and development in their countries.
The training centered on the duties of a journalist; journalistic ethics and individual accountability; coverage of elections, court proceedings and conflict, reporting for reconciliation, reporting on women and violence as well as the art of interviewing.
They also had the chance to visit the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), the Cape Coast Castle as part of the course outline.
Mr Richard Quarshiga, Propaganda Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Mambu James Kpargoi, former Media and Information Officer of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Liberia and Mr David Tam-Baryoh, Executive Director, Sierra Leone News Company Limited were among the guest speakers during the programme.
They gave talks on the themes: “Covering elections and political Public Relation: The relationship between political parties and journalists,” “The role of the Liberian Media in conflict: atrocities and post conflict justice institutions” and “Codes of ethics and the role of journalism after closing the TRCs in Sierra Leone and Liberia,” respectively.
Mr Bright Kwame Blewu, Secretary General of the Ghana Journalists’ Association thanked the benefactors for the initiative, adding that the training was necessary for journalists in order to help to promote development in their various countries.
Certificates were presented to the participants who were drawn from Ghana, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Benin, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, The Gambia and Nigeria.
Source: GNA