Press ReleasesIn Uganda, Internews Trains Journalists to Cover Peace Talks
(November 30, 2007) Internews Network has begun training journalists in the post conflict landscape of northern Uganda with the goal of bridging the gap between the official peace negotiations and the people who are most affected. “We are giving the people a voice at the table in the peace process,” says Rachel Jones, a National Public Radio journalist who serves as Internews’ Resident Journalism Advisor in Uganda. The decades-long conflict in northern Uganda has led to the displacement of 1.7 million people - over 80% of the region - who now live in camps. In Uganda, the dominant source of news and information is radio. Internews has identified 15 small radio stations in northern Uganda and is training their journalists to provide vital information to their listeners about the peace talks, the situation in the internally displaced camps, and in areas where people displaced by the conflict are expected to return to start a new life. Ugandan journalists face many challenges, including lack of training, poor transportation options, limited and outmoded radio and computer equipment, poor or nonexistent phone service, low salaries, and difficulty accessing information. In Uganda’s current political environment, it can even be dangerous for a journalist to seek certain types of information. To address these issues, Internews established an office and a radio recording studio with state-of-the-art equipment in the northern city of Gulu. Despite the many challenges of working in such an underdeveloped environment, where power outages are a daily occurrence and phone service, Internet connections, and roads cannot be taken for granted, Internews has conducted five training workshops to date. “Internews’ approach is unique in that it provides journalists with the ability to build on their skills through in-depth, hands-on practical trainings,” says Jones. “We put the participants to work, expect them to try things they’ve never tried before, to do interviews in ways they haven’t done, to do features for the first time. They say they’ve never worked harder at a workshop than at an Internews workshop.” Internews conducted its first workshop for Ugandan radio journalists in July, which focused on covering the peace talks taking place in Juba, South Sudan. At the training, participants interviewed a refugee for a first-hand account of her experiences during the conflict, and she shared with listeners the challenges of trying to resettle in her home village. The workshop also included a field trip to the Pagak Internally Displaced Persons Camp and to Otici, a transitional village for returnees who have identified their former land. For many of the journalists, it was the first time they had been to a refugee camp. Internews has since conducted two workshops for radio journalists on covering issues of violence against women, as well as a workshop on the traditional justice process in which conflict-related crimes will be tried. A fifth workshop was a technical boot camp joining producers and reporters to focus on skills such as using natural sound, correct use of microphones, and layering sound on the final mix to create a more professional and engaging story. Several of the stories from the north produced by Internews-trained journalists have aired nationally by the Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, to considerable listener interest. “Ugandans in the capital, Kampala, think of northern Uganda as a totally different place,” says Jones “They don’t feel connected to it; it’s almost like it’s a different country. For Internews to get these stories on the air and to get Kampala journalists interested in covering these issues and understanding why they should, is a big contribution to the dialogue.” Internews’ media development work in Uganda is funded by a grant from the US Agency for International Development. |
|||
