Central Asia: Oct ‘07

October was a busy training month for local journalists involved in IWPR’s Central Asia programme, with 57 taking part in various group and individual workshops in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.



Four separate training events were held in Bishkek, Dushanbe and Khorog, for journalists coming from the capitals, Osh, Khorog, and Jalalabad, as well as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Two journalists from the latter two countries benefited from additional individual training in Bishkek.



Designed to fit the needs of beginner journalists and refresh the skills of their more experienced colleagues, these workshops focused on international standards of journalism, and provided practical recommendations and exercises for journalists wishing to write for IWPR publications, and also for any other outlet guided by internationally recognised journalism values.



Standing out in this renewed training drive were two workshops held in Khorog, capital of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, a distant mountain region of Tajikistan on its eastern border with China.



On October 16 to 17, IWPR organised a two-day event for 16 journalists, representing various local media outlets and organisations, including Pamir Media news agency, TV Badakhshan, and Radio of Badakhshan. A second workshop was held on October 18, this time for 17 students of journalism at the Khorog State University.



Trainees said they found that the workshops helped broaden their skills, enabling them to write in a way which would be more widely read.



For Pamir Media editor Iftikhor Mirshakar, the training session has opened up opportunities to work with online outlets such as Eurasianet and Transitions Online.



“Thanks to IWPR, the journalists of Gorno-Badakhshan have more chances to connect with the world. I use IWPR’s analytical writing style when preparing Pamir Media news which increases our readership in Tajikistan and the rest of the world,” he said.



In the next few months, IWPR will continue its partnership with Pamir Media and also work with the news agencies Khatlon Press and Payom in southern Khatlon, and Varorud in northern Soghd.



Safarmo Butabekova from Radio Badakhshan thinks journalism in the region suffers from a lack of media training opportunities. “Most journalists do not have adequate knowledge of story writing. IWPR training provided that knowledge,” she said.



Training in Khorog was complemented by the presentation of the IWPR handbook for local journalists operating in crisis areas. IWPR’s Central Asia programme recently made this publication - the English, Dari and Arabic editions of which have been very popular - available in Russian and the distribution of a pilot print edition suggested there was great demand for the publication.



According to Daniar Karabaev from Sarykol newspaper, a Murgab district publication, who received a copy of the book, IWPR should publish more such “interesting and practical” handbooks for local journalists.



“IWPR training inspired me to start writing for the international press; to start learning more about problems in my region and how they can be resolved; to interview more specialists, experts and other professionals when producing stories,” he said.



October training events also helped to expand the current network of contributors to Reporting Central Asia, an IWPR web-based news service, and generated many story ideas. They also helped current contributors raise the quality of their submissions to IWPR.



Training in Khorog also came about as a part of an effort by IWPR to increase interaction with local journalism departments in Tajikistan. Some participants such as Shoijamol Mirzojalolov, journalism instructor at Khorog State University, indicated that they will teach IWPR’s training methods in their institutions.



“I’d like to add some of IWPR practical methods of training in the journalism faculty curriculum of Khorog State University,” said Mirzojalolov.