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There were great expectations around the first ever Thomson Reuters Foundation "Making TV News" course in Bolivia.
There were great expectations around the first ever Thomson Reuters Foundation "Making TV News" course in Bolivia.
The 5-day course was delivered by two senior Reuters television journalists - Sandra Bernard, Deputy News Editor for Latin America, and Manuel Carrillo, Senior Producer for Mexico and Centam, from June 3-7.
It was dubbed a big success by the 26 trainees - all of them professional journalists from Bolivia's main TV outlets, including Bolivia TV, Red PAT, ATB Canal 5, Red UNO, Unitel and Reuters TV Bolivia.
The participants came from cities as far apart such as Santa Cruz, Oruro, Sucre and the capital, La Paz, where the course was held.
Their applications had emerged as the best of a total of 40 from journalists wanting to do the course. Bolivian journalists even commented it was the first time such a course had taken place.
The final group were a balanced representation of Bolivia's TV industry, including news anchors, a news chief, TV reporters, camera operators, editors and news writers.
Training materials were adapted to meet Bolivia's specific needs and national style, and in response to requests from participants for an emphasis on camera work, editing, social networks, writing, stand-ups and live reporting.
We added several modules to the Foundation's standard course, and provided practical exercises to build skills in these areas, as well as showing a series of video clips on suggested themes.
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