Goma's Mobile Reporters

Ten IWPR trainee reporters from the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, participated in an innovative journalism training session in Goma organised in partnership with Voices of Africa Media Foundation, VOAMF, in May.

The training event provided the participants with the skills to produce their own videos using mobile phones. They learnt to shoot and edit them directly on the devices, enabling them to produce videos independently and at minimal costs.

“I am really very impressed by what one can do with mobile phones and with the help of the mobile technology I will be able to tell the world what is going on in DRC,” said Lucie Bindu, an IWPR trainee.

The trainees were all new to mobile phone reporting, but they all said that it came very naturally to them.

“It’s easier for me to edit the video on the mobile phone rather than use a computer to edit soundbites for radio. I’m more used to mobile phones than computers,” said Godelieve Uwimana, an IWPR trainee who works for the local radio station RTNC Goma.

Network coverage is also better than internet connectivity in DRC. Using phones opens up an array of options for interactive methods of reporting.

“This is a first in Congo and for all the reporters here. We want to make sure the journalists we work with are up to date with modern techniques of reporting. There will be technical challenges at first, but these will improve in the future and we want to be at the forefront [of multi-media journalism],” Mélanie Gouby, IWPR’s multi-media coordinator, said.

VOAMF, which has trained journalists in Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroun, welcomed the collaboration with IWPR.

“This is the opportunity that we couldn't miss and we are happy to have fulfilled the request to do the training in Goma,” VOAMF programme manager Henri Aalders said.

The ten reporters were trained to shoot and edit videos with their mobile phones and post them on the IWPR project’s new website. Through the site, the project will integrate video reporting with print and radio journalism.

“Videos are important for the stories we cover. It will complement the print and the radio by giving a more immediate and raw impression of the human rights situation in eastern DRC,” Gouby said.