Central Asia: Aug/Sept '11

IWPR journalism seminars are proving to be very popular with young and experienced journalists alike, as demand outstrips the number of places available.

Seminars in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek at the beginning of October and in Kazakstan’s second largest city, Almaty in mid-October, each drew on average 45 applications for 10-12 training places.

According to IWPR Kazakstan editor Almaz Rysaliev, previously the office used to call up journalists and invite them personally to take part in training. But this time they got so many applications that selecting participants was a difficult task.

“They all had such impressive CVs. But we could accept not more than 12 people,” Rysaliev said.

The seminars were the first phase of training to be held as part of IWPR’s new project Building Bridges/ Building Capacity – Using Media and Conflict Prevention in Central Asia funded by the Norwegian foreign ministry which was launched in June.

Journalism training events have been an integral part of IWPR’s work in the region, with several thousand trainees attending workshops over the years.

Applicants for the latest courses included many experienced journalists, from established media such as Kyrgyz public TV and Radio; the Kazak public broadcaster Khabar; the online agency Chalkan.kg; the Kazak opposition newspaper Golos Respubliki; the newspaper Megapolis; as well as reporters from Kazak service and Tajik service of RFE/RL.

The seminar combined discussions on international standards of journalism with practical exercises. Participants were also provided with an opportunity to meet a group of journalists working for international media covering Central Asia.

They included Rayhan Demytrie, Robin Forestier-Walker and Peter Leonard, correspondents in the region for the BBC, Al-Jazeera and Associated Press, respectively, and former BBC radio producer Dina Zhansagimova.

Many participants said they were keen to attend in order to learn more about international standards of journalism. They felt this was important because of globalisation.

One student, Sholpan Mahmudova, a journalist from Khabar, said, “I was inspired by the panel discussion where journalists from foreign media took part.”

In Tajikistan, well-known journalist Hurshed Atovulloev, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Faraj, who himself used to attend IWPR training sessions, said Tajik journalists should adopt international standards of journalism in order to lessen the risk of being sued for defamation.

“It is important for [journalists] in Tajikistan to work according to international standards as not many, particularly those who write for Tajik-language media, follow them. And as a result, there are a lot of libel cases,” he said.

Atovulloev said that this is not to say that Tajik journalism is all bad. But intentional standards do help journalists to reduce the risk of a newspaper being taken to court, he said.

Faizigul Akhliddinova, a journalist with Karategin newspaper in the eastern Jirgatal region, said she found the sections on defamation very useful.

“At the training, I learned a lot about how to protect myself when I write on a sensitive issues and I will use it in my writing from now on. Thanks to the training, I understood what professional journalism means,” she said.

Many journalists who have participated in past IWPR workshops have gone on to have distinguished careers in journalism. Among them are the current AP correspondent in Kyrgyzstan, Leila Saralieva; the correspondent of the Uzbek Service of the BBC in Kyrgyzstan, Tolkunbek Turdubaev; human rights journalist and staff member of the Kazak Bureau for Human Right and Rule law, Andrei Grishin; well-known Tajik independent journalist and founder of the online news agency Avesta, Zafar Abdullaev; and editor-in-chief of the recently set-up newspaper Vechyorka in Tajikistan, Gulnora Amirshoeva.

Forestier-Walker told participants that the key to telling a story well is the inclusion of a human dimension, which can illustrate a wider problem in society.

He stressed the importance of incorporating a range of opinion in an article, even when those you seek comment from are reluctant to talk.

“It is also important for a journalist to work with sources and to insist on getting a comment even if your request has been rejected dozens of times,” Forestier-Walker said.

Dina Tokbaeva is IWPR regional editor in Bishkek.