INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

The Independent Media Centre in Kurdistan (IMCK) celebrates its fourth anniversary this year. In these four years IMCK has worked hard to professionalize the media sector in Iraq. Our mission: to bring about a professional media-sector that is capable of giving voice to the Iraqi people and providing them with truthful information.   Since its foundation IMCK has continually been training professionals in all main media sectors (such as TV, Radio, Press and Internet) on almost every imaginable subject, ranging from editing training for TV-items to trainings on how to report on national heritage and natural resources, such as oil and gas. Returning every year are trainings on the basics of journalism, photography and on the reporting on people. Besides trainings and workshops, IMCK has set-up a post-graduate course in journalism for young Iraqis called Media bo Khalk (Media for People). The course is unique in its kind: Media bo Khalk teaches its students from all...

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 ...

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 29 April 2012, IMCK started with the first day of the workshop for journalists, photographers and cameraman to become good trainers in their line of field. Belgium trainer Gie Meeuwis came to Sulaymaniya to share his knowledge on how to train students on topics related to journalism. Gie Meeuwis is an experienced journalist and has been working as trainer of journalists since 1995. Seven participants from different media attended the course. During the course the focus was on how to set up a training for adult students. Gie Meeuwis gave the participants guidelines in how to get their knowledge across, how to evaluate themselves and their future students, and steps in what is important in setting up a training. The training of trainers course will continue for the next two days. See our Facebook for more pictures of the first day.

 On 22 April 2012, Kurds celebrated the 114th anniversary of the first Kurdish newspaper, Kurdistan , which was issued in Egypt by Miqdad Medhet al-Bedirxan. Journalists and writers gathered for the ceremony at the Women Media and Education Centre of Rewan magazine in Sulaymaniya. Among the invitees were Stran Abdullah (Kurdistan Nwe), Dr. Sherko Man Gorie, Yahya Omar and IMCK-director Judit Neurink. Judit Neurink was invited to join a discussion in the centre about the future of the newspaper (in Kurdistan). The discussion was introduced with remarks such as that Internet is a replacement for the newspaper and that Internet misses the same power as the newspaper. The rise of digital media is of great concern to some for the future of the newspaper. Decreasing revenues through advertising and paper-selling are a big threat to the continuing existence of newspapers. So how can the future of this medium be saved? Judit Neurink noted two things that are relevant to the...

Belgian trainer Gie Meeuwis started the first of three workshops on election reporting at the traininghall of the IMCK in Sulaymaniya. The first day, on February 15, 2010, was attended by eleven journalists from different media. Elections for a new Iraqi parliament will be held in the whole of Iraq on March 7. Meeuwis is a TV-maker and teaches at one of the academies of journalism in the Netherlands. He has conducted election trainings for journalists in a number of foreign countries. His co-trainer is Salam Omar Ibrahim, and translator is Ferman Fadhil. This workshop will be repeated twice, once more in Sulaymaniya and once in Irbil, on February 17. The workshops are made possible with funding from the American RRT in Irbil and the UNDP. The High Committee of the Elections (IHEC) is participating by giving the journalists information on the legal and technical sides of the election process.

Dutch laywer Frank van Haren will provide a training to Kurdish journalists, politicians and lawyers on the principles concerning transparancy of governance. The training will be organized by IMCK in cooperation with KOCD (Kurdistan Organisation for Civil Development) in Irbil. Two workshops of 4 days each will take place between December 12 and 21 2008. Van Haren will be focusing on the use of power by politicians and statesmen, as well as abuse of this power. Political power should only be used in accordance with the purpose of its existence, and not for personal purposes. When these two collide, one should let the public interest prevail over one's personal interests. Only the law can and should give authority and legitimacy to the actions of any politician or statesmen. Also, they should be honest and transparent in their actions and interests, in order to create a trustworthy institute called 'government'. These principles will be illustrated by several examples to mak...

,,We need a credible media'', said the Kurdish prime minister Nerchirvan Barzani at the opening of the new Kurdish newsagency AK. ,,Independent media have to strenghten democracy.'' It was for the first time the Kurdish PM showed his strong support for independent media in the north of Iraq. He criticized the role of media that let themselves be manipulated to deform information. Kurdistan needs an independent newsagency to inform the people, and to show the world what is happening there, was his message. In the past Kurds have suffered from media that distorted the facts. ,,That's why it took so long in the 80's for news on the genocide in Kurdistan to reach the world.'' AK is an independent Kurdish newsagency, that operates in Kurdish, Arabic and English from Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish region of Iraq. The IMCK has helped AK by offering training to the staff since June 2008.