* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
While the typical London weather has returned this Friday afternoon, the rest of the week has been semi-sunny and delightful as Wimbledon is taking place. It has been quite difficult to not get caught up in the festivities and enjoy the weather, however the hard work continues! It is my second week here at TrustMedia, and there are many projects under way.
Jo Weir, the program director, has come back from her travels, with many exciting stories and insights. Not only did she visit the West Bank to visit with media partners, journalists, government officials and other important people, she also went on an assessment visit to Turks and Caicos for a media development project. She learned of many new opportunities and partnerships along the way that will enable us to continue spreading the TM mission and implement new courses and training.
We have already received excellent feedback from our course in Rio on climate change. This course was sponsored by IFAD and in partnership with IPS. A group of 12 journalists, from Asia, Africa and Latin America, under the supervision of one of our trainers were invited by COMplus to observe and cover the United Nations “Earth Summit” story for their media. You can read the blog from our trainer here(and be jealous of his beautiful setting in Rio). To go along with the Rio+20 conference, the Foundation's award winning multimedia team have put out a video with World Bank that explains "Natural Capital Accounting", a concept gaining more and more significance in light of climate change. Also, World Bank and the TRF media team will be producing a second video on violence in Latin America and the Caribbean. Surely, the video will amaze us, as always, so be sure to look back for that soon.
In Aswat Masriya news, from our extended funding, we will soon be announcing “Phase” 2 of our Egyptian Project. This consists of more political and elections results coverage, more widespread news coverage from all around Egypt, as well as creating new courses amassing a wide range of topics. These include women’s rights, finance, government, etc.
Updates from around the globe-we received a photo earlier this week from our trainer in Moscow who met up with former alums. It is always exciting to hear news from former course participants and our trainers who are located all over the world. We will gladly receive any updates/blogs/pictures and post them on our site. The Beijing Business Reporting Course at Tsinghua will start next week. See below for a list of other courses we are currently accepting applications for, and be sure to keep up with our latest updates on Facebook and Twitter.
Until next week!
1) Business News and Tracking Down Corruption
Course Duration: 15 Oct 2012 - 19 Oct 2012 | Apply by: 01 Oct 2012
Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina | Topic: Business reporting
In these days of global economic crisis, business and financial news have moved from the back pages to being the lead stories. But that’s not much good if you don’t know the difference between Equities and Futures, and think a Bond is something to do with British spies. Fear not! Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Mediacentar Sarajevo bring you the chance to understand the basics of how money really DOES make the world go around.
And while we’re explaining to you how it all works, we’ll also show you where to look to find those nasty little corruption stories that lurk hidden in the numbers. Join us for Business News and Tracking Down Corruption, 15-19 October in Sarajevo. No financial experience necessary, just a keen interest in learning about this exciting and fast-paced part of journalism.
2) Reportage économique et financier
Course Duration: 08 Oct 2012 - 12 Oct 2012 | Apply by: 03 Sep 2012
Location: Dakar, Senegal | Topic: Business reporting
La Fondation Thomson Reuters a commencé en 2010, en collaboration avec l'Agence Norvégienne de Développement et Coopération (NORAD), une série de stages pour les journalistes africains dans le but de consolider leurs connaissances en matière de journalisme financier.
En partenariat avec NORAD, la Fondation Thomson Reuters organise maintenant un cours de reportage économique et financière destiné aux journalistes africains francophones, du 8 au 12 octobre à Dakar.
Apprendre par la pratique est un élément clé du programme, incluant en particulier des exercices pratiques et des reportages dans les conditions du direct. Le cours attache une grande importance à l’amélioration de la couverture financière nationale et internationale par le biais de séances d'information détaillées, de conférences, et, le cas échéant, d’une visite reportage à une institution financière. Des discussions détaillées permettront aux journalistes d’approfondir différents sujets, notamment l'exploitation des ressources naturelles, la gouvernance économique, la fiscalité et la fuite des capitaux des pays en développement.
3) Reportage économique et financier
Course Duration: 27 Aug 2012 - 31 Aug 2012 | Apply by: 22 Jul 2012
Location: Dakar, Senegal | Topic: Business reporting
La Fondation Thomson Reuters a commencé en 2010, en collaboration avec l'Agence Norvégienne de Développement et Coopération (NORAD), une série de stages pour les journalistes africains dans le but de consolider leurs connaissances en matière de journalisme financier.
En partenariat avec NORAD, la Fondation Thomson Reuters organise maintenant un cours de reportage économique et financière destiné aux journalistes africains francophones, du 27 au 31 août à Dakar.
Apprendre par la pratique est un élément clé du programme, incluant en particulier des exercices pratiques et des reportages dans les conditions du direct. Le cours attache une grande importance à l’amélioration de la couverture financière nationale et internationale par le biais de séances d'information détaillées, de conférences, et, le cas échéant, d’une visite reportage à une institution financière. Des discussions détaillées permettront aux journalistes d’approfondir différents sujets, notamment l'exploitation des ressources naturelles, la gouvernance économique, la fiscalité et la fuite des capitaux des pays en développement.
4) Jornalismo Financeiro e Económico
Course Duration: 06 Aug 2012 - 10 Aug 2012 | Apply by: 12 Jul 2012
Location: Maputo, Mozambique | Topic: Business reporting
Após o sucesso dos cursos de 2011, a Fundação Thomson Reuters está a lançar uma segunda série de cursos para repórteres financeiros em toda a África, em parceria com a Agência Norueguesa de Cooperação para o Desenvolvimento (NORAD), como parte de uma inciativa para fortalecer as suas capacidades jornalísticas. Este curso em particular, foi concebido para ajudar os jornalistas nos países africanos de expressão portuguesa a melhorarem o nível de qualidade das suas reportagens sobre temas financeiros e económicos através do desenvolvimento da sua compreensão e competências. "Aprender fazendo" é um lema essencial do programa, que inclui exercícios práticos e reportagens ao vivo. O curso também se concentra na melhoria da cobertura nacional e internacional dos problemas financeiros através de briefings detalhados, apresentações de palestras e, se possível, uma visita de informação a uma instituição financeira. Através de discussões aprofundadas, os jornalistas irão explorar novas formas de abordar temas, tais como a exploração de recursos, governança económica e fuga de capitais dos países em desenvolvimento.
5) Financial & Economic Reporting
Course Duration: 23 Jul 2012 - 27 Jul 2012 | Apply by: 03 Jul 2012
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa | Topic: Business reporting
This course is designed to help journalists in Africa to strengthen their reporting on financial and economic topics by developing their understanding and skills. “Learning by doing” is a core part of the programme, which includes practical exercises and live reporting. The course also focuses on improving coverage of national and international financial issues through detailed briefings, presentations by guest speakers and, where appropriate, a reporting visit to a financial institution. In-depth discussions will explore ways of tackling subjects such as resource exploitation, economic governance and capital flight from developing countries.
