By: MOHAMED KALLON
Cairo – Thursday, 3 February 2022: The State Ministry of Information organised the closing ceremony of the 42nd media training course for African Anglophone Media Professionals on 2 February 2022 at Movenpick Hotel – Media Production City, Six October District, Egypt. The ceremony was attended by Nasser Reda, Deputy Minister, State Ministry of Information and Ambassadors\High Commissioners and representatives.
Around 18 top-performing journalists’ participants were carefully selected from six English speaking countries to attend an intensive thirty days professional training which started on 2 January. The program drew participating journalists from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Liberia in order to enhance media cooperation and convey Egyptian experience in developing the media for African counterparts.
This year, Deputy Minister, Nasser Reda said Egypt has taken this step to offer professional training to journalists in order to proffer solutions that will strengthen the quality of reporting that will enhance the capacity of journalists to building stronger connections with their audiences and to meeting the challenges of the new media which involves sorting facts from fiction on social media platforms.
The training experts structured their courses covering an array of topics. Participants received lectures in advanced methodologies on the practice of quality journalism-a modern approach that places journalism in a prestigious position. As part of the raining, the journalists participated in the different activities ranging from exposure to advances digital technologies to cultural, archaeological and touristic site visits like the Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum, the Mediterranean Sea, the media technology institutes. He ended on a strong note that if African media is to discover a common identity, it needs trained producers, directors, journalists and presenters.
Also speaking at the closing program, Director of Training, Major General Nasser Mohamed Rida said Media Training is the flagship program and algorithm event of the Ministry of Information of Egypt targeting African media practitioners who are asking the hard questions to decision makers. He emphasised that the ministry is keen to train and make journalists best equipped to operate in their various countries.
Four journalists from Sierra Leone: Victor Jones, Mariama Suma, Kwame Joseph Yankson (SLBC TV\Radio) and Moses Oju Kamara (Star TV\Radio) were awarded certificates of participation at the end of the training. “We benefited from the training, it will help us articulate well and write accurately while reflecting on our role to educate, inform and entertain” they all said.