KHOROG, August 13, 2009, Asia-Plus — A series of training seminars on cooperation with media have been organized for heads of civic society organizations in the Darvoz and Vanj districts of Gorno Badakhshan.
The seminars were staged by the Khorog-based Civic Society Support Center, Kalam, with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and their participants studied ways to establish active cooperation with media.
Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, Ms. Savri Shanbezoda, a trainer with Kalam, said that the seminar participants had studied ways to present their activities through media that would help them solve arising and existing problems more efficiently.
“They, in particular, considered issues related to removing barriers impeding cooperation with media, defining focus audience, selecting media, presenting topics and preparing press releases, interviews and press conferences, as well planning and work with media, public service announcements (PSAs), media campaign, etc,” said Savri Shanbezoda.
During the seminars, it was noted that the main barriers in development of work with media and the public were lack of interest in some media, in particular the regional ones, over activities of the civic society organizations, ignorance of methods of establishment and expansion of cooperation between the civic society organizations and media, inability to prepare information materials for media, lack of independent media, and in some cases the hidden censorship of media by local authorities.
Ms. Shanbezoda noted that similar seminars would be conducted for the civic society organizations in the Ishkashim and Murgab districts as well.
The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a private, nonprofit organization created in 1983 to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts. The Endowment is governed by an independent, nonpartisan board of directors. With its annual congressional appropriation, it makes hundreds of grants each year to support prodemocracy groups in Africa, Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and the former Soviet Union.
