Budding journalists in South Sudan need training driven by the needs of the media of Sudan, rather than the interests of the international community, a study supported by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) finds
Author: Tine Johansen07.09.12
The study, carried out by the Swedish journalism training institute FOJO in collaboration with the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) and supported by IMS and Norwegian People's Aid, states that journalism training in the world’s youngest country often is too brief and sporadic.
“Despite that the nation of South Sudan has existed for only one year, there is already a fatigue among South Sudanese journalists towards what they call “brief case trainings” –international trainers that fly in, produce a two-day workshop, and fly out. This has so far been standard procedure, providing a multitude of short, similar trainings with no progression in time,” the report finds.
“The South Sudanese journalists argue that the best way to build a sustainable and professional media sector is by providing coordinated, long-term training opportunities, based on their own needs and with the objective of building professional national capacity.”
The journalists and editors interviewed in the study, recommend that the following is prioritised in future training:
Investigative reporting
Writing skills
Basic journalistic skills
Media management
Newspaper design
Conflict sensitive reporting
Radio editing
TV editing
Media ethics
Video filming