INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

Dutch trainer Robert Slagt returned to Sulaymaniya to offer a second workshop on basic journalism to the staff of Lveen. After the first, in May 2008, the political magazine became even more popular in Kurdistan and reached bi-weekly sales of 25.000 copies. But it also lost one of its staff, Soran Hama, in a revenge killing after a story about prostitution in Kirkuk. Popularity does not mean improvement is not needed. Lveen needs to separate fact and opinion, needs to work more responsible, to be searching for truths, as trainer Robert Slagt told the participants. Subjects can be presented in a more interesting way. When more opinions are presented, a conclusion may be made by the author. The magazine has the tendency to publish sensational stories, and it is made for the political classes, not for normal civilians. Slagt showed his disappoint-ment that only part of the staff partici-pated. Perhaps this is due to the success of the paper. 'They feel things are going well, many peop

Trainer Adrian Roling stayed on in Kurdistan for another week after his workshop in Kifri, to train 16 young reporters and editors of Gali Kurdistan, one of the TV-stations of PUK in Sulaymaniya. From March 23 to 26 he showed them what news items are and how to make a news reportage for TV. His participants were young and eager: 'They want to learn, they seem to soak in the information', Roling commented. The best product of the training was broadcasted on Gali Kurdistan. The stations' editor in chief is very positive about the changes made in only four days.

Some 30 journalists in Kifri, at the border of Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq, started a 5 day workshop in civil journalism. On March 16 an IMCK-trainings team that had come down from Sulaymaniya, opened the course at the library of Kifri. Senior trainers Khidr Domle and Judit Neurink were joined by Adrian Roling (chief editor at the NOS-Journaal in the Netherlands) and Abdullah Samir, himself from Kifri. Participants are working for TV and different print media in Kifri. IMCK-intern Jenda Terpstra also participated in the training.

IMCK-trainers on March 8th started in Irbil on a 7 day training with editors and makers of internet sites. Fifteen makers joined Marco Visser (from the website of the Dutch paper Trouw) and co-trainer Ako Mohamed at the building of Irex, to be taught about how to make sites that are more interesting for the public and are not competing with the (mother) newspaper. They also talked about technical aspects of making sites, and of ways to make sites more attractive for advertisers. The training was made possible by funding by the Dutch ngo Hivos.

Around 50 social workers attended a meeting in Sulay- maniya organised by the Kurdish ministry of education to talk about using newspapers in the classroom. On Saturday February 28 IMCK informed them about projects (of NIE, Newspapers in Education) in more then 60 countries all over the world where newspapers are used in the education, and about the positive results on students and society. Together with editors in chief and the ministry the mediacentre is trying to initiate the program in Kurdistan. IMCK-assistant Jenda Terpstra explained during the meeting some of the lessons which can be taught using the papers. Social workers showed great enthusiasm to start on the program, which will first be tested in a number of schools in Sulaymaniya.