INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

The first part of IMCK workshop on Knowledge Awareness of Oil and Gas finishes in Kalar Ali Ghazi from Nature Iraq explains how oil and gas impact on the environment and IMCK journalism trainer Khaled Suleiman helps the journalists develop story ideas.   Part 2 of the workshop is in Sulaymaniya in December.  Experts on  oil and gas will give information to help journalists become more specialized on the topic. 

IMCK and Statt run a series of workshops on Illegal migration from Iraq   and the effects on the families left behind. 50 thousand Iraqis have been refused asylum in Europe with nearly 13 thousand Iraqis applying for asylum in 2012   in the EU   (UNHCR data) . IMCK trains journalists to practice responsible, ethical journalism and to broaden their news agenda to write about a broader range of topics.    There will be a prizes for the best stories produced from the workshops. In the first series of workshops,   ended today,   participants came from Sulaymaniya, Chomchomal, Ranyia, Qaladzia, Arbat and Saed Sardq.   The workshops are supported by Statt   Consulting who provides an expert trainer to give information about illegal migration.   IMCK social media trainer teaches the participants how to use the internet and social media for   news sources and IMCK lead journalist trainer Khallid Suleiman works ...

IMCK's latest training in social media comes to an end today. 15 participants from all over Iraq - Anbar, Babylon, Karballa, Kirkuk, Wasit, Mosul, and Baghdad traveled to Sulaymaniya to learn how to use the internet and social media for serious journalism.   Security is a big feature of the workshop - how to use facebook and twitter safely and professionally to gather news and to broadcast news.  The training is supported by Hivos, the Dutch humanist international development organisation.   Participants came from print and online media, civilian journalists civil society organisations.  Mustafa Al-Ani co-ordinated the training and the two trainers - Bahar Jassim and Mustafa Saad both trained by IMCK supported by Hivos, led the three day workshops. The partipants presented  IMCK with a plaque of appreciation. IMCK Director Julia Shaw closed the workshop and presented the certificates.

The website Kirkuk Now received a Certificate of Honor from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) for the objective way of covering the news, stories and the activities in the city of Kirkuk. On November 7, 2012, Mohammed Najem, branch manager of IRCS-Kirkuk, presented the certificate to Kirkuk Now, as the site is “working to accomplish the principles of the charity organization and the principles of the Iraqi people”.  KirkukNow.com is set up by the IMCK, and it congratulates editor in chief Salam Ibrahim and his staff with the prize. Before the site got another Certificate of Honor from the Olympic Committee in Kirkuk, praising the website for being the front runner in covering news events of the province.  Kirkuk Now is the first and the only independent website in the city of Kirkuk that covers the news events and civilian stories in all the different languages of the communities.

IMCK's blog that results from the Environment Workshops in Erbil and Sulaymaniya is on line and has been updated. The blog shows stories that are the result of the workshops, where experts (from Nature Iraq and elsewhere) gave their views and shared some of their knowledge. The workshops were funded by the American Consulate in Erbil. Read Nature Now on this location .

IMCK coming Director Julia Shaw started the second part of IMCK's ToT on Social Media for Journalists in Sulaymanyah. On November 21, 2012 she started two days training with six of the participants to teach them how to convey their knowledge to others. Together with international trainer Marco Visser Julia will make these six participants ready to co-train in workshops IMCK's is going to organize in the rest of Iraq in 2013. The project is funded by the Dutch NGO Hivos.

IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle started the second part of IMCK's ToT on Social Media for Journalists in Erbil. On November 14, 2012 he started a two day training with four of the participants to teach them how to convey their knowledge to others. Together with international trainer Marco Visser he will make these four participants ready to co-train in workshops IMCK's is going to organise in the rest of Iraq in 2013. The project is funded by the Dutch NGO Hivos. More pictures on Facebook.

Winter starting early in Kurdistan had its effects on the opening van the second part of the Environment Workshop by IMCK and Nature Iraq on November 12, 2012. The workshop started in the Eco Camp of Nature Iraq in Mergapan, outside Sulaymaniya, but had to be moved to the IMCK training hall in Sulaymaniya because of the heavy rain. The walk on the Piramygroon mountain that was planned as part of the first day, had to be canceled because of the muddy and slippery conditions of the terrain. The workshop started with British expert Tony Miller (of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh) talking about deforestation and the results for the mountains of Kurdistan. International trainer is Jan Michael Ihl, and he is seconded by co-trainer Shwan Mohamed, as lead training Khaled Sulaiman was away for urgent family reasons.T he website  Nature Now that is made for the workshop will be renewed with the stories that derive from this workshop.  The workshops ar...

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 .

International photographer Eddy van Wessel returned to Sulaymaniya and started a 3 day workshop for students of the Media Faculty of Sulaymaniya University. Fifteen students came to the training hall of the IMCK on Saturday November 10, 2012 to work with him on the basics of photography. The workshop is the result of cooperation of IMCK with Sulaymaniya University and the Department of Youth of the KRG Ministry of Culture. Van Wessel, a prize winning journalist, is a regular trainer with IMCK and works regularly in the Middle East and other conflict zones. The pictures are on Facebook .

What does it cost to leave the country with the help of a human smuggler, and what are the results of that for the life of the family of the person who leaves? What does it mean for a country when someone who had a good education leaves? Is life in Europe really so much better than in Kurdistan - how much does one earn there, what is the cost of living and what is the comparison with the situation in Kurdistan? All questions that were covered during the one day workshop on the Economics of Illegal Immigration, that IMCK and STATT organised on October 24, 2012 in Duhok. International trainer Maaike Veen talked about the statistics and backgrounds. Goran Sabah gave a briefing for STATT on the statistics of (illegal) immigration. IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle was the moderator of the day, and he worked with the 18 participants - mostly young journalists - on how to write stories on the subject.

What caused the present economic boom in Kurdistan, and how long will it last? That is the main subject of a three day masterclass IMCK organised in the media centre in Sulaymaniya. International trainer Maaike Veen started the course on October 21, 2012, with IMCK trainer Khaled Sulaiman as the co-trainer. She will work with the group of seven experienced Kurdish journalists on getting clear what are the elements of the booming economy in Iraqi Kurdistan, and what are the prospects for the future. Maaike Veen is an independent freelance journalist, specialized in economy, who trained for IMCK in Iraq five times before. More pictures of the workshops can be found on Facebook.

IMCK's female starters returned to the IMCK training hall on October 17, 2012, for a two day intensive workshop on interview. Ten of the thirteen young women who participated in IMCK's women training in the summer took part. Trainer is international trainer Gie Meeuwis, who teaches at the Fontys Journalism College in Tilburg, the Netherlands. Meeuwis has 20 years of experience as a TV-maker. The women will learn how to interview on camera, in such a way that the message of the person that is interviewed gets across best.

IMCK director Judit Neurink and coordinator Saman Penjwini briefed officers of the Erbil police about how to work with media. The briefing was integrated in a two week course by two trainers of the French gendarme, as part of the EUJust Lex Iraq program (the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission in Iraq). It rook place in the College of Police in Erbil, on October 14, 2012. During the briefing for some 15 officers from different police departments in Erbil Neurink talked about the rights journalists have under the Kurdistan Press Law, to gather information, and that the law also protects them against violence. She talked about the roles journalists and police both play in a democracy. IMCK regularly conducts these briefings for police and Assaish as part of their training programs.

A group of presentors entered the IMCK building today. The coming three days they will be trained to become trainers themselves. Later this year these journalists and presentors will start training politicians. International trainer Gie Meeuwis is now giving them the information, tips and tricks on how to do so. Gie is an experienced journalist and has been working as trainer of journalists since 1995. More pictures of today's training can be found on Facebook .

When is the last time you read a story on the environment? I bet it is too long ago. This is why IMCK organized two 4 day workshops on environment, in close cooperation with Iraq own Greenpeace, Nature Iraq. There is a need for more journalists who write about the environment in order to create more awareness. Environment is something to treasure, to save and protect for the future. The first workshop started on October 8, 2012 at the IMCK training room in Erbil with a group of over twenty participants. A selection of 15 of them will be invited to also join the second 4 day workshop in November in the Eco Camp of Nature Iraq in Sulaymaniya. The training started with two experts: Lisa Hilleke on water issues, and Azam Alwash, the chairman of Nature Iraq, on the general environmental situation in Iraq. The trainers representing IMCK are international trainer Jan Michael Ihl and our lead trainer Khaled Sulaiman. Translator is Goran Sabah. The workshops are m...

Eddy van Wessel stayed for a second training in Kirkuk, where he worked with a group of eleven journalists on how to make a photo story on illegal immigration. The workshop was a cooperation between IMCK and STATT, to inform journalists about the issues concerning (illegal) immigration. The training started on September 27, 2012 at the offices of the Youth Media Centre in Kirkuk. For STATT, Hazhar Taha and Goran Sabah gave the participants information about illegal immigration, statistics and consequenses of immigration for the immigrants and their families, while Van Wessel focused on the photo story and gave technical advice to the photographers. For photo's of the workshops see Facebook . They, and others, are invited to submit their photo stories for a prize and a place at a special exhibition in December in Erbil that STATT and IMCK will organize in coordination with the KRG Minister of Culture. The best three photo stories on illegal immigration will be part of th...

International trainer Julia Shaw started a 3-day interview training for presenters and reporters of Kurdish TV stations, on August 2, 2012. Thirteen journalists from different stations, amongst them KNN, Azadi TV and Speda are participating. Shaw is an experienced and award winning radio- and TV-maker who worked for the BBC radio and TV and has been training in different courses, mainly in Great-Britain. The workshop will be very practical and focus on how to conduct the different kinds of interviews: for collecting information, for news reports and on background.

The workshop for women starters in journalism of IMCK went into its third week. The young female participants returned on Saturday July 28, 2012 to the IMCK traininghall in Sulaymaniya to learn more about working for print media, with IMCK-trainers Khaled Sulaiman and Ako Mohammed. The course will focus this week on how to write different kinds of articles and how to make a (news)paper. At the end of the week a paper will be produced with their work. The course is made possible through funding from the German Consulate in Erbil and the Iraqi First Lady, Hero (Khan) Ibrahim. More photo's of the course on IMCK's Facebook page .

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...