INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

After years of isolation, the Kurdish society is opening up to the outside world. Investers and traders come in, leaders of foreign countries come to visit. This should have its results for the media. For Kurdish reporters to get more experience on reporting on foreign issues, IMCK organised a three day training course in Sulaymaniya, starting on December 19, 2010. Trainers are Wendelmoet Boersema, former chief of the foreign desk of Trouw newspaper and former correspondent in Moscow, and Judit Neurink, senior trainer for IMCK and correspondent in Iraq for Trouw newspaper. Twelve reporters from different (party, semi-independent and independent) media in Sulaymaniya participated in the workshop, which took place at the conference room of Aso newspaper, as the IMCK trainingroom was occupied. The workshop covered issues like how to choose news items on foreign subjects for your media outlet, how to give the news a Kurdish link, how to find sources for stories outside Kurdistan and how to

After four weeks being teached in the basics of journalism, internet and online journalism, the trainers split up the students of Media bo Khalk into two groups. Eleven students will specialize themselves in print media, 14 of them will become professionals for TV. Wendelmoet Boersema, chef of the daily supplement of Trouw, one of the biggest Dutch newspapers, started on December 13 a training on the different forms of writing for the print group. Her 5-day training includes how to write reportages, news articles, portraits and interviews.

Karin Greep started on December 12 a training on how to make a reportage for the students of the TV group of Media bo Khalk. The focus will be on news, news flows, the production of news and how to make a little reportage of that. During the 5-day training the students will produce a newsitem.

After three 2-day workshops for journalists on improving the relationship between press, politicians and police, Kees Schaepman provided two workshops in Duhok. In four days 30 journalists received a training on improving journalistic ethics. Subjects discussed are: how to work together with the police, how to behave on the streets, how to work as a responsible journalist. The training is funded by the Regional Reconstruction Team.

Rommert Kruithof arrived on December 9 in Sulaymania to train the staff of Kirkuk Now, the independent news site which will bring news of the Kirkuk province, developed by IMCK. The site will be the first news outlet in Kirkuk that will bring unbiased news. The first day Kruithof discussed the layout and content of the website with Shwan Mohamed, the consultant of Kirkuk Now. The site will work with three editors, who will be trained for two days on how to work together and the basics of online journalism. Thirteen reporters from Kiruk will work on freelance base for Kirkuk Now. Kruithof will provide a four day training on civil journalism. Another important aspect of the training is that the reporters get to know eachother and will work closely together. Kirkuk Now is funded by Hivos and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgium.

Four TV journalists from the South of Iraq and two from the Kurdish region will be trained to be a professional trainer in a training of trainers . Dutch trainer Karin Greep is providing them a 5- day course on content . Greep will focus on interview techniques , news , camera and editing . In January the same group will follow a 5- day training on training techniques .

International trainer Kees Schaepman and IMCK trainer Ako Mohammed started a series of two day workshops for journalists, on the relationship between press, police and politicians. Part of the training will focuss on Codes of Conduct. Afternoons will be used for discussions with a politician and a member of the assaish, the Kurdish security police. Schaepman started the training in Erbil, and will move later to Duhok for more workshops on the subject. In 2011 the same workshops are planned for Sulaymaniya. Participants are from all media in Kurdistan. The workshops, which have been organised to end violence against journalists and to decrease the animonity between press and both police and politics, have been funded by the American RRT in Erbil.

IMCK director and senior trainer Judit Neurink conducted a lecture for the news staff of Kurdistani Nwe in Sulaymaniya, on December 2, 2010. She talked about the differences between media in the West, and those in Kurdistan. Main differences, she said, are the fact that most journalists in Kurdistan feel they have a political role, and that most media have a connection to political parties. And this leads to content in the media that mainly cover politics. Western media focuss much more on people stories, and work with civil journalism.

The teamleader of the Regional Reconstruction team of the US in Erbil visited the IMCK offices in Sulaymaniya on Tuesday November 30, 2010. Alex Laskaris talked to the staff and IMCK director Judit Neurink about the work of IMCK and the situation of the press in Iraqi Kurdistan. A day later, on Wednesday December 1 the charge d´affairs of the Dutch embassy in Baghdad, Lars Tummers, also came to IMCK. He was shown around and briefed on the projects that IMCK is conducting. Both the American RRT and the Dutch embassy support IMCK´s main project, Media bo Khalk, the post graduate training that runs in Erbil.