INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

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.

,,I've seen monuments with bullet holes, because people practiced on them, or others where they sprayed  paint on it'', said the Italian archaeology professor Mario Fales to a group of 20 journalists in Duhok. He spoke during the workshop on National Heritage that IMCK organised on September 20, 2012, to inform journalists about the importance of preserving the heritage. Without a past no present, his message was. The day was held in the still empty Archaeology Museum in Duhok and was opened by its director, Dr Hassan Ahmed Qassim, who spoke of new discoveries done during excavations in the city. The group was then shown around at one of the excavation sites, Shindogha, dated 3000 years back. IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle led the day and helped the participants to think of ways to report about the subject. More pictures of the day on Facebook

International trainer Marco Visser on May 9, 2012 started the second of his 3-day workshops on Social Media for Journalists. In Duhok twelve participants joined him, all journalists from different media. Co-trainer was Sardasht Aziz (picture). The training took place in the training space of the Kurdistan Civil Rights Organisation. The workshop is part of a series that IMCK is organising with support of Irex.

Fifteen young starters in journalism received a certificate after 5 days of workshops on basic journalism. Trainers Wiggele Wouda and Khidher Domle taught them about 'new' journalism, reporting for people about people, and welcomed them to the new generation of journalists in Iraq. The training took place at the stadium of Duhok Football Club, and will from July 23, 2011 be repeated for a new group of youg starters in Erbil.

How to use live comments of listeners and still be able to structure the program? That is the main question international trainer Joris van de Kerkhof is covering during a 3 day workshop on Talkradio in Duhok। The training started on Tuesday April 5, 2011. Presenters and reporters from different radiostations in Duhok take part. Talkradio is popular with radiostations in Kurdistan, because it is simple and cheap. Listeners are invited to phone in, but presenters need more skills and information to be able to stay in charge of the program. During the workshop the participants will also practice interviewing. The workshop is organized in cooperation with Duhok University and the Badinan Foundation.

On October 20, Bart Top started his second training on Reporting on Minorities. Twelve TV journalists, with different backgrounds, joined the training. Aim of the training is that participants get more information about other groups in the society, and that they get to know collegues from outside their own group, whom they can contact when they need information. During this 5-day course guest lectures will be given by professionals on minority issues. Khidher Domle is co-trainer and Mohamed Ali is translator. The American Reconstruction Team (RRT Erbil) is funder of this training.

Fifteen print journalists from different ethnic and religious background started a workshop in Duhok on Reporting on Minorities. The training started on October 14, 2010 and will last for 5 days. Trainer is Dutch journalist Bart Top, who is a specialist on reporting on minorities and started a magazine on minorities in Holland some years ago. His co-trainer is IMCK senior trainer Khidher Domle, locally know for his knowledge on the different minorities in Iraq. The training will touch on taboos in reporting, responsible reporting, and reporting about other minorities than the group for which the journalist is reporting. Making people stories in stead of political or religious stories is also part of the workshop, which will be repeated for TV starting from October 21. The workshops make use of the knowledge available in the group of participants. The main aim is to stimulate journalists to report in a responsible way about the different minorities in Iraq, and thus improve the unstandi...

Dutch lawyer Frank van Haren returned to Kurdistan for a transparency of government training in Duhok. From March 28 till April 5 he did two workshops, one for 15 journalists and one for 18 lawyers and politicians from KDP. IMCK is organising these workshops to increase the trust between press and politicians. He advised journalists to create a network with politicians they can contact to check facts, and he advised politicians to do the same with journalists they can contact to get their story out. Politicians should not be afraid of journalists. They should react to criticism; this is the way to inform the people, Van Haren said. ,,By reacting they can explain why a decision was made, or why criticism is not reasonable.'' Politicians should learn how they can also use journalists to get their message to the (potential) voters, also through independent media. Van Haren also had a meeting with judges, whom he advised to make a database of their verdicts. This should be open to ...

Editors in chief of six newspapers in Sulaymaniya met at the IMCK to discuss possibilities of working together on different subjects, and meeting on a more regular bases. During the meeting on January 8 2009 the editors of Awena, Kurdistani Nwe, Hawlati, Lveen, Rojnama and Komal decided on organizing a meeting with colleagues from Irbil and Duhok, to discuss the possibility of working together.

The Independent Media Centre in Kurdistan was founded in May 2008 and is supported by the Dutch ngo’s Press Now and Democracy and Media. Funding is both Dutch, international and Kurdish. Its main office is in Sulaymaniya, but the centre also has offices in Duhok and Irbil. Press Now started training civil journalism in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2004, and has since trained a few hundred journalists from different media (radio, TV, print). The Media Centre will extend the work started by Press Now, giving equal time and energy to journalists from different backgrounds - political, social, religious and ethnic.