The group of Tunisian journalists visit Trinity Mirror's Western Mail offices during their stay in Cardiff
Wales: The lessons learned …
TV journalist Rafika Fejjari sums up the difference between election coverage in her native Tunisia and the UK in just one word: Trust
Rafika was watching the Welsh Assembly votes being counted along with other Tunisian journalists, who were in Cardiff to examine the role of the media in ensuring free and fair elections.
She said she found it hard to imagine such a smooth process in her own country: “It’s so different from Tunisia. We don’t trust anyone … the regime , the media, the politicians.”
In an interview with Thomson Foundation Head of Training Tim Rogers, Rafika said the biggest lesson she would be taking home was the importance of planning. In the audio excerpt below she explains that in Tunisia she works in a small newsroom facing the challenge of covering over 60 parties in the country’s forthcoming elections. Click below to hear Rafika’s comments:
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The five-day workshop was organised by the Thomson Foundation and led by Elin Wyn, former Head of Election Planning for the BBC in Wales with Mark Webster, a former Economics Editor and international correspondent for ITN.
From left: Rafika Fejjari, Mourad Teyeb and Abdel Aziz Hali
Mourad Teyeb and Abdel Aziz Hali, a journalist on La Presse, also gave their views on the challenges faced by Tunisian journalists.
Mourad writes for Kapitalis, an online business magazine, and he is also a stringer for the BBC in Tunis. He says that despite the revolution, the media still has a long way to be truly free.
He said: “I’m not an idealist. I’m not expecting Tunisia to become Briain or the United States in one or two years.”
“But I know there are a lot of things we can achieve if we start by changing ourselves. If we apply some of what we have learned during this week – if every single journalist tried to talk abut positive things, we will achieve a lot.”
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Abdel Aziz Hali added his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities facing Tunisian journalists:
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Scotland: The lessons learned …
Meanwhile a group of nine journalists from Egypt witnessed a major shift in Scottish politics, with the Scottish National Party being returned to power with a landslide majority.
An intensive week included visits to newspapers including The Herald in Glasgow and The Scotsman in Edinburgh, the new studios of BBC Scotland, and the independent commercial channel STV.
The journalists also attended election-planning workshops conducted by Charles McGhee, a former editor of the Glasgow Herald and a past president of the UK Society of Editors.
The group, drawn from print, broadcast and online news outlets, discussed the challenges of covering free elections with some of Scotland’s senior journalists and enjoyed some robust exchanges, particularly with the political teams at The Scotsman and STV. “We learned something different during every visit,” said Aliaa Hamed, a senior journalist with Al-Shorouk Al-Gadid, an independent newspaper that serves greater Cairo.
The journalists also toured the controversial Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh (it cost £400 million – 10 times the original estimate) and received a briefing from the Electoral Commission on running elections in the UK.
Two of the journalists being interviewed at Glasgow Caledonian University's TV studio
Among the highlights of the group’s Scottish tour was the opportunity to attend the election count in Glasgow’s SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre) during the early hours of Friday, May 6, and the chance to join the audience at the final live televised party leaders’ debate of the Scottish election campaign.
“After the debate, I couldn’t believe the party leaders walked into the audience to talk to ordinary members of the public,” said Rania el Maky, editor of the English-language Daily News. “That would never happen in Egypt.”
The group made news themselves when several members were interviewed by BBC Radio Scotland, Radio Clyde, and by post-graduate journalism students at Glasgow Caledonian University. The Lord Provost (Lord Mayor) of Glasgow, Bob Winter, also hosted a civic reception for the group at Glasgow City Chambers where they took full advantage of the opportunity to discuss the importance of local democracy.
“It was a really worthwhile experience,” said Merette Ibrahim, a senior journalist with the online news site Al-Youm Al-Sabea. “On my return I will discuss our election planning with the team, based on what we have seen and learned here.”
• The visits were part of a series of training initiatives, led by the EU-funded European Neighbourhood Journalism Network (ENJN) project, designed to help Egyptian and Tunisian journalists play an increasingly-important role in the democratic process. The ENJN project is managed by the Thomson Foundation and targets media in the 16 neighbourhood countries.
The Egyptian journalists visit BBC Scotland
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