Gambia News Online publisher attends media freedom and responsibility training in Ghana

Lamin Jahateh is also an editor at the MarketPlace Business newspaper

(GambiaNewsOnline) - Lamin Jahateh, editor and publisher of the blog, Gambia News Online, on Sunday left Banjul for Accra, Ghana, to attend a two-week intensive course on “Freedom and Responsibility in the Media”.

The course, which is for journalists from member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is organised by the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), a Germany-based organization that seeks to enhance the professional performance of journalists across the world.

Conducted in cooperation with the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra, the course will take place from 17 to 28 September 2012.

According to the organisers, the course aims to examine the interdependence between quality and ethics in journalism.
 

Mr Jahateh, who left together with three other journalists from different media houses in the country, said:  “The training will strengthen and enhance my advocacy for freedom of expression in The Gambia and thus to improve the conditions for democratisation and economic and social development.”

The course also aims at directing attention to one of the key ethical challenges: the past as a major factor influencing the political climate and agenda of the present.

The course will combine lectures on main issues, discussions, group work on special questions, and exercises on case studies which derive from the participants’ own work experiences.

The IIJ of GIZ - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit - was founded in 1962. It seeks to enhance the professional performance of print and online media as well as journalism training centres in developing countries and nations in transition.

The IIJ capacity building programme utilises various instruments for organisational and human resource development, including advanced training, dialogue, networking activities as well as advisory services for media houses and media schools.