INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

International media trainers Rommert Kruifhof and William Reeve started a ten day media training for the Kurdistan Parliament in Erbil. From 18 to 29 November IMCK is offering Kurdish parliamentarians media training to help them get their message across to the media and thus to the civilians. The training is taking place at the Parliament Building in Erbil, and is being conducted with support of the British consulate in Erbil, and the Speakers office in the Parliament. Kruithof is a senior international trainer with IMCK who has been training in Kurdistan since 2004. He trained Kurdish parliamentarians before in 2009. Reeve is ex-BBC and has experience in (media) training in different countries, amongst them Afghanistan. More pictures on Facebook.

Wednesday June 27, IMCK organized a presentation and a discussion panel at Erbil based Aras Publishers for the new book 'Iraqi Treasures' (Kunuz al-Iraq), which explores the subject of the natural resources in the country. The discussion panel consisted out of Avin Omer, a member of the oil and gas committee in the Kurdistan parliament, IMKC-trainer, journalist and supervisor of 'Iraqi Treasures' Khaled Suleiman, and advisor for the region's cabinet of ministers Ahmed Mufti.  The discussion was mainly on transparancy. On the one hand journalists cannot get the information on oil issues because the Oil Ministry in Erbil does not have a spokesman and Minister Ashti Hawrami is difficult to catch for journalists. Also the year reports of the Ministry are in English, as are the oil contracts. Against that was said that journalists should learn languages, and that they have to work to get and understand information, and they have to work to get and understand...

IMCK started on June 24 with a second workshop for journalists from Mosul. The workshop on news and feature writing will last for five days in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. International trainer Wendelmoet Boersema and local co-trainer Khaled Suleiman give the workshop to 18 participants from different backgrounds, such as Kurds, Arabs, Christians and Yazidi. The workshop aims to boost the expertise of attending journalists and to create an awareness of the role media can play within the complex situation of Mosul and of the consequences reports can have in the often intense situation. Mosul is the hotbed of Iraq, where Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and the different minority groups clash and where a big part of the city is under Islamic control. The terrorist groups are controlling a part of the province as well as the city. Journalists from outside do not go to this area. Mosul is a dangerous place for journalists. Many of them have to work incognito, always afraid of abduction and r...

Matthew Ference of the American Consulate in Erbil attended the closing session of Mosul Together, the workshop for TV-makers from Mosul at the IMCK training hall in Erbil, on June 14, 2012. Together with trainers Nynke la Porte and Mazen Tayar he offered the participants their certificates. The project was financed by the American Embassy in Baghdad. The second part of the project, for print journalists from Mosul, will start on June 24, again in Erbil.

Sunday June 10, IMCK organized a workshop consisting of five days on developing basic expertise in news-journalism in TV to improve the quality of journalism in Mosul. Nynke la Porte from the Netherlands was the trainer of the workshop in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Mazen Tayar, a journalist from Basra, assisted as co-trainer. The practical focus during the workshop was on how to make a good news-item for television. In this workshop Mosul journalists of different backgrounds not only met each other and were introduced to some practical knowledge about journalism, but at the same time they were taught how to integrate different perspectives and sources in their reports. The workshop aims to boost the expertise of the attending journalists and to create an awareness of the role media can play within the complex situation of Mosul and of the consequences reports can have in the often intense situation. Mosul is the hotbed of Iraq, where Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and th...

June 6, IMCK started in cooperation with STATT two workshops on writing feature stories on illegal migration. The first workshop is held in Sulaymaniyah. Fifteen journalists attend the workshop. On June 7 the second workshop will take place in the capital of Kurdistan, Erbil. Many young people in Iraqi Kurdistan want to leave the country. But as visas are hard to come by, many use smugglers and buy passports with a visa. This illegal migration has many bad consequences. Both for the host countries and maybe even more for the illegal migrants. Besides the risk of being detained and deported, people risk to be trafficked for exploitation. Men and women can end up in illegal prostitution or laboured slavery. Therefore IMCK wants to inform Kurdish journalists about the problems. STATT is involved by providing experts on illegal migration, which provide the background information and expand the knowledge of the participants on the subject. Issues like data on illegal migration fro...

IMCK's trainers in camera and editing, Beshad Anwar and Mustafa Qais started on Saturday June 2, 2012 in Erbil with a special workshop in the history of the mediacentre. They had the least participants ever in a workshop by IMCK. The workshop is meant for three Kurdish returnees, who will learn how to make a little movie about their present lives in Kurdistan. They are supplied with a handycam, and learn how to shoot good images and how to make a scenario. The training is financed and initiated by IOM, the International Organisation for Migration, in Erbil. After same days of training on the camera, trainer Salar Sultan will teach them how to make a scenario, after which they can take the camera home to start making the movie. The images will then be edited with help of the IMCK trainers. See our Facebook for more pictures.

After two successful workshops in Sulaymaniya about the national heritage in Iraq, IMCK organized a third one in Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan. The goal of the course was to inform a group of journalists about the necessity to raise awareness among the Iraqi population for the preservation of the national heritage. It is of great importance that journalists have a better understanding of the problems that historical sites in Iraq face and how institutions try to preserve artefacts. The participants visited the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage and attended a lecture by senior-trainer Khidher Domle in the IMCK training hall. National heritage Iraq has one of the oldest cultural histories in the world. Iraq is where the Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were, whose legacy went on to influence and shape the civilizations of the Old World. Therefore Iraq has a very rich heritage. Ashur , Hatra , and the archaeological city of Samarra are three...

On April 23 in Erbil, IMCK started with a five day workshop on human rights for the students of Media bo Khalk, the postgraduate course in journalism. Law lecturer and journalist Ruth Hopkins will teach the students more about human rights and its relevance to journalism. In Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq journalists still face a lack of freedom of expression. Journalists, activists and demonstrators still get beaten, intimidated, and detained according to Human Rights Watch . The workshop will provide information about the international legal framework of human rights, how human rights are relevant to social issues, daily life and the professional context of journalism. Analytical and a practical assignments will be given to the students. The workshop is made available with the help of the Dutch embassy in Baghdad. See our Facebook .

The media makers for the KDP organisations for students, youth, scientists and women gathered in the Safeer Hotel in Erbil on Saturday March 17, 2012 for the first part of a workshop that should help them improve their media. IMCK is offering them two workshops of 3 days each to make their media more attractive for the target groups they are meant for. IMCK's senior trainers Khidher Domle and Ako Mohammed will work with them on improving the quality of stories, and choosing stories that are more interesting for their readers. The opening of the workshop was conducted by the head of the KDP organisations, Sasan Awny, together with IMCK director Judit Neurink. The second part of the project will be conducted in April, to review the results of the first workshop and offer more advise for further improvement.

Twenty journalists from all over Iraq joined international trainer James Gavin in Erbil for the final of three workshops on Natural Resources. The workshop gives detailed information about oil, gas and water issues in Iraq. The five day workshop started on March 10, 2012 with a guest lecture by Ben Lando, who leads the Iraqi Oil Report website in Baghdad.He informs the participants about oil- and gas-contracts as they are used in Iraq. The project, in which IMCK partners with Mesalah and Kirkuk Journalists Group is funded by Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA). Earlier workshops took place in October and December 2011. The stories produced during the workshop will be published on the special website made for the project: Iraqi Treasures.com

IMCK on Sunday March 4, 2012 started a two month starters training for print journalism. The training will run  parallel to the post graduate training of IMCK, Media bo Khalk, and will make use of the same trainers, Khaled Suleiman and Ako Mohammed. The training covers basic and civil journalism, and will prepare students for a start in journalism. All students are from Iraqi Kurdistan.

February 29th International trainer Rommert Kruidhof from the Netherlands started training officials of the Kurdistan Democratic Party on their presentation in the media. His training contained very practical exercises in how to communicate with media-reporters and in what way to present oneself professionally. The training took place for two days in Erbil, a stronghold of the KDP.

Social media have become an important part of communications on different levels. That is the reason IMCK-trainer Sardasht Aziz started a 3 day training for the Popular and Vocational Organisations board of KDP, on February 21, 2012 in the training hall of the Safeer Hotel in Erbil. Participants are involved in communicating between KDP organisations like the students union, the youth and the women union, and their members. They will learn that Facebook, Twitter and different Google services can also be used for this communication. Time will also be used to inform the participants about safety on the internet, as hacking is a big problem in Iraqi Kurdistan. See Facebook for more pictures

Al Jazeera reporter Mustafa Zriad on Saturday February 4, 2012 started a five day workshop for IMCK and DC4MF on how to make a reportage for TV. He trains 15 young Iraqi journalists with a few years of experience in TV making. The training takes place in Erbil, at the Safeer Hotel. Zriad is repeating a workshop he conducted in 2012 for Iraqi Kurdistan, and again this is a project by IMCK in coordination with the Doha Centre for Media Freedom (DC4MF). It targets mainly journalists from Arabic Iraq. The aim of the training is to improve the quality of TV news in Iraq, so it will better inform the Iraqi people.

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.

Some 200 future officers in Assaish in Erbil on Sunday December 18, 2011 were briefed by IMCK on the role of the media in connection to their own work. IMCK senior trainer (and director) Judit Neurink talked to three groups of students at the end of their six month training to become officers about the relation between media and  police in a democracy. She used real situations to inform them on possible confrontations, and how to handle situations when press is involved. Main message of the lecture was that journalists by law have the right to collect information, and in a democracy are working to inform the people. These lectures in the future will become part of the six month course for officers in Erbil assaish.

Media bo Khalk, the post graduate course  in journalism by IMCK was opened officially in Erbil, on Sunday November 13, 2011. The Dutch embassador Jeroen Roodenburg opened the course together with two former students of earlier editions of Media bo Khalk. Roodenburg made a comparison of diplomats and journalists and concluded that they both are curious, they report and they care about people. The difference is their public, as diplomats are reporting in confidentiality. The Assistent Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs of KRG, dr Didar Zebari, spoke of his support for IMCK in setting up an important training course for journalists like Media bo Khalk. As did former KRG minister Chnar Abdullah, who pointed to the importance of professional journalism for the development of Iraq. IMCK board member Rebin Rasul explained the importance of good education for starters in journalism, from his own experience when working for the Kurdish newspaper Hawlati.

Students for the third edition of Media bo Khalk/Media for People/Al Ilam lil nas arrived in Erbil on Saturday November  12. The first group of students from Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk etc were briefed by project manager Saman Penjwini and the trainers Khaled Sulaiman (lead trainer), Ako Mohammed (print) and Aram Saeed. The formal opening of the post graduate course will take place on Sunday November 13, 2011 at the Safeer Hotel in Erbil.

Eddy van Wessel returned to Kurdistan to conduct another workshop on portrait photography. Van Wessel is an internationally admired photographer who traveled the world ( http://www.eddyvanwessel.com/ ). The training, that focusses on portrait photography but also covers basics, started on October 14, 2011 in the IMCK training hall in Erbil and lasts three days. The 11 participants are from Erbil and Kirkuk. Some of them work as reporters who also make pictures, some work as photographers.