INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle started on July 25,2011 in the Public Library in Rania training a group of seventeen local journalists on basic skills in journalism. For the first morning session, he was assisted by IMCK senior trainer Judit Neurink. The participants work for local media or as a correspondent for Kurdish media. This project is a cooperation between IMCK and MWOD, Media Work Development Organisation. The three day training will focus on civil journalism: reporting for people about people. How to make Kurdish media attractive for more readers, target groups, news, sources, interview - all will be covered. Domle will be seconded on day 2 and 3 from IMCK trainer Shwan Mohammed (editor in chief of Awene newspaper).

Twenty one starters in journalism joined trainers Wiggele Wouda and Ako Mohammed on Saturday July 23, 2011 at the IMCK traininghall in Erbil for a five day workshop on basic journalism. They will be taught about news, sources, interview, responsible journalism and reporting for people about people. This is the second training IMCK is offering on the basic level in 2011, next to its post graduate training Media bo Khalk.

Fifteen young starters in journalism received a certificate after 5 days of workshops on basic journalism. Trainers Wiggele Wouda and Khidher Domle taught them about 'new' journalism, reporting for people about people, and welcomed them to the new generation of journalists in Iraq. The training took place at the stadium of Duhok Football Club, and will from July 23, 2011 be repeated for a new group of youg starters in Erbil.

The Independent Media Centre in Kurdistan aims to give more on the job trainings, international trainer Gie Meeuwis came to Sulaymaniyah to give training to six future trainers. This trainers should train there colleagues from different media outlets in Kurdistan in the future. His five-day training started on Sunday the 17th of July. Meeuwis is returning to Kurdistan, as he is IMCK’s main trainer for these kind of Trainings of Trainers (ToT). He teaches the six participants how to get their message across in a workshop situation, and gives some theoretical basics on training of trainers. The six new trainers will be used for training at several media outlets in Kurdistan. The workshop takes place at the mediacentre's training hall in Sulaymaniya and takes five days.

International trainer Wiggele Wouda started a workshop for starters in print journalism, in Dohuk on Sunday July 17, 2011. The workshop will cover the basics of journalism, like what is news, which are rules and ethics in journalism, and know who to write for (target groups). Part of it is skills training (news items, interview etc). Wouda is journalist and journalism teacher at the Univeristy of Groningen, the Netherlands. His co-trainer is IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle. The workshop lasts 5 days and takes place in the conference room of the football stadium of Football Club Duhok. Sixteen young journalists take part. Wouda will repeat the same training afterwards for starters in the Kurdish capital Erbil.

Around 29 bloggers from all over Iraq ended on Tuesday July 5 2011 a six day workshop in Erbil, offered to them by IMS, Unesco and IMCK. Trainers were Naseeem Tarawnah and Mohammed ElQaq from 7iber Inc in Amman. During six days they talked about improving their weblogs, ethics and about forming a network. The workshop ended with the group and IMS' Osama Al-Habahbeh making recommendations on responsible blogging for the bloggers network, and certificates being presented.

The 22 students of Media bo Khalk (Al Ilam al nas, Media for People) 2010/2011 were presented with certificates to celebrate the end of their 8 months post graduate course in journalism. The ceremony took place on Monday July 4, 2011 in Erbil. Guest speakers were the KRG Minister of Culture, Youth and Media, Kawa Mahmoud, and Public Diplomacy officer Selim Ariturk of the US RRT in Erbil. They both spoke about the importance of independent and professional media for Iraq. Falah Mustafa Bakir, the Head of the Department of Foreign Relations of KRG, sent a letter in which he stated that 'maintaining honesty and helping build hope and heal the wounds of the past is the signal role that journalists play'. The second Media bo Khalk was possible thanks to American, Dutch and Kurdish funds. The latter came from PUK leader Mallah Bachtiar, and from former KRG prime minister Nerchirvan Barzani, who explained in a letter the reason for his support is 'the need for professional j

  Some pictures of the Bloggers workshop of IMCK, IMS and Unesco still going on in Erbil.

IMCK in cooperation with IMS and Unesco started on June 30, 2011 a 6 day workshop for Iraqi bloggers, called Blogging for the Future. Bloggers from all over Iraq take part in the workshop, that will focess on making their blogs more attractive, both in content, writing and technically. Trainers are Nasreem Tarawnah and Mohammed Elqaq from 7iber-inc in Amman. The workshop runs in the Strant Hotel in Erbil, and continues untill July 5. The workshop is made possible thanks to funding from IMS and Unesco.