INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

How do journalists use social media to do their job? That is the main subject of a series of workshop IMCK will organize in Iraq in 2013 and 2014. To be able to do so, first the trainers for the project had to be trained. International trainer Marco Visser and local trainer Sardasht Aziz on November 11, 2012 started the first of two ToT's (training of trainer's) on Social Media for Journalists. In Erbil they teach six participants from all over Iraq how to use social media as a source and as a tool to get your information out. A second workshop will take place later this month in Sulaymania. The best trainers that come out of these two ToT's will be teaching in 2013 and 2014 on the subject for IMCK. The project is funded by the Dutch NGO Hivos. Photo's of the workshop are on Facebook .

July 15, IMCK started its second week in the training of Kurdish female graduates in the basics of civil and professional journalism. Fifteen participants attend the second week that focuses on how to use Internet and social media in a professional way. Also attention to the use of infographics will be given. Khaled Suleiman and Internet-expert Sardasht Aziz are the trainers during this workshop. Last week the participants got an introduction to the basics of journalism and what news is. Media in Iraqi Kurdistan need more female journalists. They are needed to make the media more interesting for the big target group of women that are hardly reached now. Even though women make up the majority of all Iraqi's, they are hardly to be seen in the media. The training will last for six weeks with a focus on different subjects. The training started with a week on news and basic journalism, and will be followed by a week on print-journalism, two weeks for TV-journalism, a week t...

Journalists in Kalar on May 17, 2012 started a 3-day workshop on the use of Social Media for journalists. IMCK trainer Sardasht Aziz will teach them (among others) in three days how they can use different social media and internet to find news and information, and to communicate with colleagues. The workshop is part of a series that IMCK is organizing all over Iraqi Kurdistan with the support of Irex.

IMCK trainer Sardasht Aziz started a three day workshop on Social Media for Journalists in Rania, on May 13, 2012. In total twenty participants joined him at the Library in Rania. The workshop is part of a series of workshops on the subject that IMCK is organising with the support of Irex.

On 6 May 2012, IMCK started with a training on social media for journalists in Iraq. Social media are conquering the Middle East - and also Iraq . After the start of the demonstrations of 2011 many young people started using Facebook. Journalists are also an active group on the social network website. Still Iraqi journalists use social media mostly privately, exchanging opinions, Youtube links and pictures. Yet the power of social media for journalists lies in extending ones network, gathering news and sources, and simply be more connected to the world. The professional use of social media has not yet found ground in Iraq. Twitter for example, popular elsewhere in the world and in many ways regarded a useful for journalists, has hardly entered the Iraqi (journalists) scene yet. Therefore IMCK wants to train Iraqi journalists to become more Internet savvy. The journalists will learn how to work with sources that are available online, become more modern in their way to find stories ...