INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTRE KURDISTAN

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...

July 8, IMCK opened a starters' course in journalism for fifteen Kurdish female journalists in Sulaymaniya. IMCK wants to teach young, female Kurdish graduates the basics of civil and professional journalism in a post graduate training specially organized for them. 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. News is mainly about politics, and if not, about subjects that are of interest to men. Women news in Iraq is often news about honour killings, violence against the family, the plight of widows - or perhaps about a famous singer. The fact that women play also a professional role hardly gets any attention. That political decisions also have effects for women, is neglected. Stories about business women or the career chances of young women are not found ...

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...

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...

Photo stories to tell the story behind illegal immigration. That is the main idea of an exhibition by IMCK that was opened on June 20, 2012 by AP photographer Yahya Barzinji, in the Red Prison in Sulaymaniya. The exhibition was the result of a workshop on photo stories and illegal immigration, organised by IMCK and STATT in Sulaymaniya in May 2012. The participants of the workshop were asked to produce a photo story on the subject. The work of three winners is now to be seen at the exhibition room of the Red Prison. Yahya Barzinji talked about the importance of photo stories for Kurdish media. It is a form that is not used very much yet, but has the possibility to show often complicated subject in simple pictures. He offered the price of 500 dollars to the winner, Zmnako Ismaell, who made a photo story about a Kurd who got shot by the border guards when he tried to flee illegally to Iran, which resulted in him loosing a leg. The runner up was Halwest Azad, who made a black and ...