There’s always a bigger dimension when you’re training at Al Jazeera – whether it’s trying to run a session on social media while Twitter and YouTube are running hot with revolutionary spirit in the Middle East and North Africa, or discussing the ethics of neutrality and impartiality amidst controversy about the coverage of unrest in Bahrain and Syria.

This time the frisson came from a day spent discussing audiences, their use of technology, and the changing nature of competitive forces … at the end of which Sky News Arabia launched its new Arabic-language rolling news service from the UAE. You’d think they’d timed it just for us.

This is a pretty wide-ranging course: How to think strategically through to how to manage tricky people, and how to set a programme budget (and then cut it by a third). The eleven trainees threw themselves into a variety of challenges with gusto, including a radio station manager from Chad and several managers from Aljazeera.net. A great quality of debate… and plenty to talk about.

Wendy Pilmer works with participants during the Planning and Managing Media Corporations course at Al Jazeera

Thomson Media Foundation CEO Nigel Baker presents a Certificate of Achievement to an Azerbaijani journalist

Visits to the London Stock Exchange, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, BBC Television Centre and an old Welsh coal mine capped a series of business journalism workshops for a group of journalists from Azerbaijan.

The journalists arrived in Britain for a final week of training after three weeks in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, during which they also visited the giant BP oil and gas terminal at Songachal. The workshops were led by Thomson Media Foundation trainer and consultant Oliver Wates.

Certificates of Achievement were presented by Thomson Media Foundation CEO Nigel Baker to the journalists in a ceremony marking the end of a partnership project spanning ten months, with sponsorship by the British Council and Azerbaijan’s Pasha Bank.

Azerbaijani journalists from television, radio and print media were involved in the training.

Professor Paul Collier: 'A lot of Africa has a burning sense of never again'

The Africa Means Business project has officially launched with a high-profile conference at Nairobi’s Strathmore Business School.

Managed by the Thomson Media Foundation, the programme aims to raise standards of business and economic reporting in Africa and provoke policy debate by bringing together influential journalists and economists.

Keynote speaker at today’s event (May 2) was Professor Paul Collier, director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies and former director of development research at the World Bank. In his address, he warned that the discovery of oil in Kenya presented the country with a major opportunity … or potential curse.

Prof Collier stressed that if Kenya wanted to avoid the mistakes made by Nigeria after it discovered oil in the 1970s, the country needed to take a series of steps to protect income for future generations.

He cited three key areas where action was needed: The government should put rules in place to ensure sound economic decision making, establish dedicated institutions to reinforce the rules, and create a critical mass of citizens who understand those rules.

Said Prof Collier: “A lot of Africa has a burning sense of never again. You know your natural resources have been plundered in the past and you don’t want them to be plundered in the future.

“Young people in Africa really care about the issue of natural resources and think the resources could either be plundered or used effectively to create the future they will all share,” he added.

He said senior figures in Kenya had already voiced their concerns about public reaction to the oil find, with many people demanding pay rises. This had been the case in Nigeria, warned Prof Collier, where they had partied for a decade on oil money and were still clearing up the mess.

Prof Collier was one of a distinguished list of speakers at the launch of Africa Means Business, which is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dr Henry Chakava: 'Journalists can still play their watchdog role and be constructive partners in development'

By the end of 2013, a total of 64 influential journalists and economists from Kenya and Ghana will take part in workshops, where the economists will learn from journalists how to get their message into the media, and journalists will develop a better understanding of how to report economic issues.

The programme was developed by African and international partners, including the African Economic Research Consortium, Oxford University’s Centre for the Study of African Economies, the Thomson Media Foundation and the Wincott Foundation. Strathmore University and the University of Ghana, Legon, have been recruited as partners to act as training hubs to host the workshops.

Opening the session Dr Henry Chakava, the doyen of African publishing said: “We are talking of money, we are talking of business, we are talking of profit so that business and profit should not be seen as dirty words.”

He added that economics was seen as a hard subject, but it was vital the media covered the area in a serious fashion.  “We should enable journalists to be serious in their work and to present things in a sympathetic and balanced fashion. Journalists can still play their watchdog role and be constructive partners in development,” said Dr Chakava.

Former editor of the Financial Times Sir Geoffrey Owen told the launch event: “What we are involved in – and what we are looking for in writing and broadcasting on the economic and business world – is information and analysis presented in a way which is accurate, balanced and accessible to the non-expert citizen.”

If that were the case, he believed the policy debate could influence governments to take the right decisions. That was a point reinforced by Prof Collier, who said that only with a critical mass of well-informed Kenyan citizens could the country use its oil revenues wisely.

• For project information and updates, visit the new Africa Means Business website and Facebook Page.

Economists and journalists are to join forces in a new project aimed at improving economic policy across Africa.

Africa Means Business, a partnership project Managed by the Thomson Media Foundation, is to launch at a one-day conference at Nairobi’s Strathmore Business School on May 2nd.

The aim is to raise standards of business and economic reporting and provoke policy debate by improving the flow of information about economic research in the media.

By the end of 2013, a total of 64 influential journalists and economists from Kenya and Ghana will take part in workshops, where the economists will learn from journalists how to get their message into the media, and journalists will develop a better understanding of how to report economic issues. Organisers hope the the project will expand to other African countries.

The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation but was conceived by African and international partners, including the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Oxford University’s Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE), the Thomson Media Foundation (TMF) and the Wincott Foundation. Strathmore University and the University of Ghana, Legon, have been recruited as partners to act as training hubs to host the workshops.

The keynote speaker at the launch event will be Professor Paul Collier, director CSAE, and former director of development research at the World Bank. His bestselling book The Bottom Billion highlights the economic crisis facing around 50 states which are home to the world’s poorest people. Bitange Ndemo, Kenya’s permanent secretary for information and communication, who is a trained economist, will also attend.

Other speakers include William Lyakurwa, the executive director of AERC; Sir Geoffrey Owen, former editor of the Financial Times and chairman of the Wincott Foundation; Mahat Somane, Fellow at Harvard Law School; Clive Wafukho, founder and CEO of Ivory Consult; Ochieng Rapuro, managing editor of Kenya’s premier Business Daily, Rockson Dogbegah, and founder and CEO of Rockson Ventures, Ghana; Carole Mandi, publisher of True Love and Drum; Dr X. N Iraki, economist at the University of Nairobi and business columnist for The Standard, Kenya; and Dr Levi Obonyo, head of communication studies at Daystar University and chairman of the Media Council of Kenya.

Nigel Baker, CEO of the project’s managing partner the Thomson Media Foundation, said: ”It is important economists know how to get their message into the public sphere, and journalists know how to translate economic research data into stories understood by the general public. The result should be a greater understanding of how to hold governments to account on policy issues.”

Dr George Njenga, Strathmore University’s deputy vice-chancellor in charge of research and quality assurance, considers the partnership between the university and Thomson Media Foundation a key milestone in establishing an international centre of excellence in Kenya to provide world-class training in financial and business journalism for the African continent.

• A website dedicated to Africa Means Business is due to be launched. For enquiries regarding the Africa Means Business project, email: amb@thomsonfoundation.

The Thomson Media Foundation's Effective Communications for Ukrainian CSOs workshop

The Thomson Media Foundation has launched an innovative new project with UNDP Ukraine aimed at getting critical messages out into the media from leading civil society players.

The Effective Communications for Ukrainian CSOs (civil society organisations) workshops, held in Irpin from March 12th-23rd, saw participants coming from across Ukraine. David Quin and Taras Kuzmov from the Thomson Media Foundation worked alongside over 40 organisations to tackle a range of community and social activism issues, including disability rights, town planning, help for the homeless and legal aid.

This initiative followed the successful Thomson Media Foundation/UNDP Media ‘Literacy for Cypriot Civil Society and Media’ programme last year.

With a long history of dealing with public communications and media development issues in Ukraine, the Thomson Media Foundation was able to hit the ground running with participants getting the inside track on how the nation’s media operates and what methods work best at getting their messages across.

The Ukraine project is the latest project led by the Thomson Media Foundation in and around the former Soviet Union with intergovernmental donors such as the EU and the World Health Organisation.
 Workshops focused on the fundamentals of modern communications, from key message identification and public awareness raising, to audience targeting and stakeholder analysis, helping NGOs reach out to the modern media and the widest-possible audience.

The training for television, radio, print and freelance journalists marked the culmination of a three-month project, sponsored by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, during which over 100 Sudanese media professionals developed their English language skills.

At the media centre in Omdurman, Rachel Wright led workshops in Radio Skills and TV Packaging, helping improve essential writing, presenting and production skills while the journalists worked on ‘live’ stories including proposals to move the historic fish market and impact of new buses on Khartoum’s public transport.

Khartoum’s busy British Council training facility was the setting for two New Skills for Print Journalists workshops, led by Dan Mason. Journalists learned how to incorporate digital tools and techniques into their daily routines, while brushing up their core skills, with sessions including online search and writing, liveblogging, alternative story forms, newspaper design, and photography for print and web.

One workshop ended with journalist teams creating three blogs focusing on Sudan’s culture and heritage, its vision for the future, and a hidden gem on the Nile … Aba Island.

Thomson Media Foundation Certificates of Achievement were presented at the end of the workshops, with participants eager to put their newly-acquired skills into practice in the newsroom. Journalists said they found the workshops intensive, valuable and enjoyable, praising the hands-on approach used by the Thomson Media Foundation trainers.

See the Thomson Media Foundation Facebook Page for pictures of the presentations in Khartoum.

The Radio Skills journalists receive their certificates in Sudan, with trainer Rachel Wright and British Embassy representative Sophie Wood (front row, second from right)

Participants on the New Skills for Print Journalists workshop with trainer Dan Mason

Led by Thomson Media Foundation trainers Rachel Wright and Dan Mason, the workshops are the culmination of a British Foreign and Commonwealth Office initiative that has seen over 100 journalists taking English language lessons in recent months.

Broadcast journalists are taking part in separate radio and TV skills workshops, led by Rachel Wright. Meanwhile, multimedia trainer Dan Mason has been introducing print-based journalists to new skills and approaches to storytelling. The print skills workshops are being hosted by the British Council in Khartoum.

Said Dan Mason: “The response from journalists has been outstanding. Taking part in the Thomson Media Foundation workshops proved a real incentive for journalists attending the English language lessons and they are really making the most of this opportunity.”

• The workshops continue until April 1.

Journalists in discussion during the Thomson Media Foundation print skills workshop in Khartoum

Duration: Four weeks
Location: Cardiff, UK
Dates: June 25 – July 20, 2012

Course summary

This prestigious multimedia course focuses on the key skills journalists and communication professionals need to prosper in a converging media world. Participants are specially selected and this an early call for journalists to express an interest by writing to us. There is no firm commitment at this stage.

Over four action-packed weeks, you will be engaged with online, social media, news, data, mobile and ethics training as well as learning how to develop your audio and video shooting and editing skills. During the course you will learn how to build and manage the course’s own news website.

Last year’s Convergence Course included participants from Africa and the Middle East, who praised the “exciting and enriching experience.” Award-winning South African journalist Vicus Burger said after the course: “Despite my passion for journalism I had a rather narrow point of reference. But that has changed now. I’m not going back home the same person.”

Journalist Chamberlain Usoh, from Nigeria, receives his course certificate from Thomson Media Foundation trustees Patsy Robertson, left, and Carin Pimlott

A key feature of the course is the chance to spend time on placement with the best of the UK print, broadcast or online media, learning at first hand how some of the most respected professionals are changing to adapt to new technologies and audience demands. These placements typically last for one or two weeks and follow the four-week course.

The course will be based at the Thomson Media Foundation’s headquarters in Cardiff, UK.

With interviews, high-profile guest lectures, field exercises – and the opportunity to share the experience with journalists from other nations and cultures – participants will leave with the friendships, tools and confidence to take their career to the next level. Inspired? You will be!

Interested? As a first step, complete this form to register your interest. Please note, this is not a free course, but the Thomson Media Foundation can in some cases help participants explore funding and sponsorship options.

International humanitarian campaigner Terry Waite with some of the Convergence Course 2011 participants

Who’s it for?

Journalists (employed or freelance) and communications professionals with some experience of print, television, radio or online media, and a passion for expanding their skills in a fast-moving, interactive and team-focused learning environment.

A competent level of computer skill is essential, although no prior experience of video, audio or other multimedia editing applications is required.

For more information about course costs and place availability, please complete this form to register your interest. For any other inquiries, email Tim Rogers at timr@thomsonfoundation.org

Read what last year’s participants had to say about the Convergence Course 2011 »

Winners of The Inquirer Awards 2011 with Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali (pictured fourth left) and Thomson Media Foundation chief executive Nigel Baker

« Click here for Arabic version of this story  جائزة الصحافي المتقصي لعام ٢٠١١

Investigations into the use of pesticides in Palestine, rape within families, and the plight of foreign workers in Beirut were among the subjects tackled by the winners of the 2011 Thomson Media Foundation Inquirer Awards.

Journalists from Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq were eligible to enter the competition. The winners were announced at a special ceremony in Amman, Jordan, under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Rym Ali.

Some of the Middle East’s most distinguished journalists and media figures joined the 2011 judging panel, sifting through entries from print, television and photojournalists around the region. Reporters were free to choose the topic of their investigation, which had to demonstrate their ability to examine in depth a significant issue facing the region and its people.

Judges looked for entries that showed comprehensive and thorough research, incisive interviewing technique, and creative, well-constructed writing and presentation. Journalists’ names were not shown to judges representing the five participating countries. After an intensive first round, a shortlist of 15 entries from each category was assessed by a judge from outside the region, resulting in three winners for each category.

In addition to receiving an Inquirer Award trophy, the first place Print, Television and Photojournalism winners will travel to the UK, where they will visit some of the world’s most dynamic media organisations.

A total of 85 entries were received for the Print Media category; 19 entries for the Television category and 18 entries for the Photojournalism category.

The Inquirer Award project was first launched in Jordan in 2003. Since then it has grown to include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq.

2011 Inquirer Award winners

Print Category

1st Place for best investigative report for the print media
From Gaza, Palestine, Ms. Maha Shahwan for Al Risalah newspaper
An investigation into rape cases within the same family

2nd Place for best investigative report for the print media
From Palestine, Ms. Samar Al Dreamly for Sama News Agency
An investigation into the use of pesticides in Palestine

3rd Place for best investigative report for the print media
From Lebanon, Mr. Salman Al Endary for Annahar Newspaper
An investigation into the possibility of the world coming to an end in 2012

Television category

1st Place for best investigative report for television
From Jordan, Ms. Raeda Hamra for Roya TV
An investigation into the conditions at Al Hashimya district in Jordan

2nd Place for best investigative report for television
From Palestine, Mr. Hamza Al Hattab for Wafa News Agency
An investigation into conditions in Tel Ramaida in the old town in Jericho

3rd Place for best investigative report for television
From Lebanon, Mr. Riyad Qubaisi for Al Jadeed TV
An investigation into conditions of foreign domestic workers in Beirut

Photojournalism category

1st Place for best Photojournalist
From Palestine, Mr. Mahmoud Allayyan from Al Quds Newspaper

2nd Place for best Photojournalist
From Palestine, Mr. Adel Hanna from the Associated Press

3rd Place for best Photojournalist
From Palestine, Mr. Ahmad Emad Deeb from Demotix

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• The Inquirer Award has become a showcase for some of the region’s finest journalists. The Inquirer Awards past winners page lists journalists who have continued to earn the highest respect from peers and communities.

• For enquiries regarding the Inquirer Awards, email: inquirer.award@gmail.com

الفائزين بجائزة الصحافي المتقصي 2011

Read English version of this story »

هذه السنة السادسة لبرنامج جائزة الصحافي المتقصي في المنطقة.  فلقد بنينا على نجاحات السنوات الماضية والآن يشمل البرنامج العراق الى جانب كل من سوريا ولبنان وفلسطين والاردن.

قامت لجنة التحكيم بتقييم التحقيقات المقدمة بناء على ستة معايير منها درجة الدقة وتكامل البحث وأسلوب إجراء المقابلات واسلوب الكتابة من حيث اشتماله على عنصر الإبداع وحسن التركيب والتقديم.
 شارك في المسابقة ٨٥ تحقيق من الصحافة المكتوبة و١٩ تحقيق تلفزيوني بالاضافة ل ١٨ مصور صحافي. هذا وقد تمت عملية التحكيم من دون أي تحيز حيث تمت تغطية إسم الصحافي وترقيم التحقيق قبل عرضه على اللجنة المختصة ومن ثم الانتقال إلى المرحلة النهائية حيث قام حكم مستقل من خارج المنطقة بتقييم التحقيقات.  مجموع العلامات حددت الفائزين من كل فئة.

بالاضافة الى استلام جائزة الصحفي المتقصي لعام  ٢٠١١ سيتم ايفاد الفائز الأول من كل فئة من الفئات الثلاثة المشاركة الى بريطانيا لمدة أسبوع بضيافة مؤسسة ثومسون للتعرف على قطاع الإعلام هناك.

يهدف برنامج جائزة الصحفي المتقصي إلى رفع المستوى المهني للصحفيين العاملين في حقل التحقيقات الصحفية في المنطقة إضافة إلى إلقاء الضوء على الجهد الذي يبذله الصحفيون المتميزون في هذا المجال.

تدير مؤسسة ثومسون برنامج جائزة الصحفي المتقصي وتموله وزارة الخارجية البريطانية.

الفائزون

فئة الصحافة المكتوبة

المرتبة الأولى لأفضل تحقيق في الصحافة المكتوبة:
من قطاع غزة في فلسطين مها شهوان وتعمل لدى صحيفة الرسالة
تحقيق حول حالات الإغتصاب من قبل أفراد العائلة نفسها

المرتبة الثانية لأفضل تحقيق في الصحافة المكتوبة:
 من فلسطين سمر الدريملي وتعمل لدي وكالة سما الإخبارية
تحقيق حول استخدام المبيدات في الزراعة في المناطق الفلسطينية

المرتبة الثالثة لأفضل تحقيق في الصحافة المكتوبة:
من لبنان سلمان العنداري ويعمل لدى صحيفة النهار
تحقيق حول احتمالية نهاية العالم عام ٢٠١٢

فئة الصحافة المرئية

المرتبة الأولى لأفضل تحقيق تلفزيوني:
من الأردن رائدة حمرة وتعمل لدى قناة رؤيا
تحقيق حول الأوضاع في لواء الهاشمية في الأردن

المرتبة الثانية لأفضل تحقيق تلفزيوني:
من فلسطين حمزة الحطاب ويعمل لدى وكالة الأنباء وفا    
تحقيق حول صراع البقاء في منطقة تل رميدة بالبلدة القديمة بمدينة الخليل

المرتبة الثالثة لأفضل تحقيق تلفزيوني:
من لبنان رياض قبيسي ويعمل لدى قناة الجديد 
تحقيق عن أحوال العاملات الأجنبيات في لبنان

فئة التصوير الصحفي

المرتبة الأولى لأفضل مصور إخباري:
من فلسطين.  محمود عليان من صحيفة القدس

المرتبة الثانية لأفضل مصور إخباري:
من فلسطين عادل هنا من وكالة الأسوشياتد برس

المرتبة الثالثة لأفضل مصور إخباري:
من فلسطين.  أحمد عماد ديب ويعمل لوكالة ديموتكس

لمعرفة الفائزين في السنوات الماضية

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