INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

Do you want to become a journalist in 2 months? And earn an IMCK certificate? IMCK will start a 2 months course for Kurdish young men and women who want to become a (print) journalist. IMCK's best trainers will teach them how to write good articles, how to report in a responsible way, what modern journalism is. The course, that focusses on print journalism will start in Erbil on 4 March 2012. There are only 15 places for all Kurdistan, so hurry and apply. Terms and Conditions: Age between 18-30 years. 200 dollars fee payable for the whole 2 months. At least a secondary school graduate. Free accomodation is provided for a limited number of students from outside Erbil. IMCK certificate earns you 2 score points in Masters' apllication. For more information please contact Saman Penjwini 07710178468. Here are some reactions by our former students of the project Media bo Khalk

The TV group of Media bo Khalk, the post graduate training of IMCK, started on a second international week of TV making. Al Jazeera reporter Mustafa Zriad returned to Kurdistan to train the group on interview and reportage. Zriad will work with the TV group for 5 days, and make them work in a very practical way. He starts off where TV trainer Karin Greep left off a couple of weeks ago, making sure the students have a good basic knowledge and improve their basic skills. The training was made possible through sponsoring by the Doha Centre for Media Freedom, DC4MF.

IMCK director Judit Neurink held a lecture at the Media Department of Sulaymaniya University. Her public was made up of print students of the fourth and final year of the faculty. The lecture took place at the university on Thursday January 19, 2012. Neurink spoke about the difference of the situation of media education in her motherland, the Netherlands, about the profile of a journalist, about responsible journalism and about the role of journalists in a democracy. The lecture is the first of a series to help students practice the making of journalistic stories.

Satellite channel Gali Kurdistan has a second consultancy to get its lighting in shape. Dutch expert Walter Birkhof started on Tuesday January 17, 2012 working with the staff to improve the way the programs of this PUK channels are lighted. He started where earlier consultant Lukas Morawski left off. The consultancy is meant mainly to make sure shadows are acceptable in the many live programs of the channel. The consultancy lasts for 6 days.

Dutch parliamentary Harry van Bommel, who is member of the foreign affairs committee in the Dutch parliament for the SP, visited Media bo Khalk on Sunday January 15, 2012. He was interviewed by the students on the aim of his visit. The information will be used on the website the students will be making as part of their internet training that started earlier in the day. Van Bommel is in Iraqi Kurdistan on invitation of KDP. He is working to get the Dutch government to recognize Anfal and the attack on Halabja as genocide, and at the same time is trying to find support for activities for Dutch companies in the Kurdish region.

Students of Media bo Khalk, the post graduate training by IMCK running in Erbil, on Sunday January 15, 2012 started a course on the use of internet for journalists. Trainer Elin Wyn came from Cardiff to teach them in five days how to report on internet, how to use internet for finding information and news and how to make a simple website. Both print and TV students take part. Co-trainer is Sardasht Aziz, who earlier taught the group the principles of working on internet. Ms Wyn is representing Falmouth College University, which is supporting Media bo Khalk with advise and trainers, to make sure the course will grow into a masters in journalism.

The board of IMCK on Friday January 13, 2012 held a meeting of a day to discuss how to further professionalize the organisation. Consultant Ernst Faber worked with them, and the IMCK management team on making 'rules for board and director' and profiles for board members. The meeting took place at the IMCK offices in Sulaymaniya. The IMCK board consists of 7 members. Present were Parwa Ali (chair), Asos Hardi (deputy chair), Kawa Mohammed, Rebin Rasul and Fatah Zakhoiy.

IMCK-director Judit Neurink was invited on the 9th of January 2012 to speak at a conference held by Kurdistani Nwe. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the Kurdish newspaper. Present besides IMCK were the editors-in-chief of the four main newspapers in Kurdistan. From left to right on the picture below: Stran Abdulla (Kurdistani Nwe), Kemal Raoof (Hawlati), Shwan Mohammed (Awena), the moderator and Judit Neurink with IMCK-translator Yad Raoof Jalal. Not seen on the picture is Ako Mohammed of Rudaw newspaper.  The invitees talked about the challenges that journalism and media face, now and in the future. One topic of concern was the growing competition by the Internet. Judit Neurink focused among other things in her speech on the difficulties of getting young people interested in journalism in Kurdistan. Watch the video below to see the speech.

Students of the TV-group of IMCK's post graduate course Media bo Khalk started on their first 'international week'. TV-maker Karin Greep, who has been part of the curriculum in the earlier versions of Media bo Khalk as well, came to Erbil to teach  them how to make news items for TV. Greep is an experienced journalist working with different TV stations in the Netherlands. The training started on Sunday January 7, 2012 at the training centre of IMCK in Erbil and will last for 5 days. International weeks, with expert trainers from outside Iraq, will be held regularly until the end of the course in May 2012 to offer knowledge and support the training by local Iraqi trainers.

Women newspaper Rewan works with IMCK trainer Khidher Domle on making their content more interesting for a bigger group of readers. On January 5, 2012, Domle spent a day with the editorial staff in the library of the women centre in Sulaymaniya. How to attract readers, how to make stories more interesting, how to choose subjects and how to handle them in a way that will interest the readers were the main subjects to be covered.