Iraq: Jul ‘08

Eleven IWPR Iraq trainees attending a radio course helped produce four episodes of IWPR’s flagship radio programme, The Other Half, in July.

The training was a split into two parts: theory and practice. Before working on their individual projects, students learned what makes a good radio programme, techniques for digital audio editing and how to conduct radio interviews and host discussions.

The femaile students then put the theory into practice at IWPR’s radio studio in Sulaimaniyah, where the IWPR women’s radio show is produced and recorded. The show is broadcast on local Iraqi radio stations.

The trainees, who had attended IWPR Iraq’s training courses in online and television journalism earlier this summer, helped to produce four episodes of the The Other Half.

The trainees had assembled material for the four shows from their home towns of Basra, Baghdad, Karbala and Kirkuk.

In the programmes, the trainees covered a wide range of issues related to the situation of women in these cities and the difficulties they face as female journalists and activists.

In future, the format of the show will be changed to allow trainees to interview guests from different cities over the phone.

IWPR’s radio producer, Pishko Mustafa, said that the trainees learned quickly.

“They handled themselves well during the show and they were quite aware of the entertaining nature of radio,” said Mustafa.

Mustafa believes that most of the trainees are now able to produce shows from their home cities and send them to IWPR for broadcasting.

IWPR is also planning new training courses for female radio reporters from around the country. A manual in Arabic and Kurdish is now being prepared for all of IWPR’s radio reporters.

It includes modules on radio programming, practical lessons on how to produce a radio show and a style guide.

Hiwa Osman is IWPR’s Iraq country director.