DUSHANBE, August 25, Asia-Plus — Master-classes on online journalism were completed at the Independent School of Journalism, Tajikistan – 21st Century (School), last week.
The School executive director Safo Safarov said the training had been conducted by Saymuddin Oymahmadov (Ehsoni Zarvon), the editor of the BBC Tajik Internet Page. “Additional training for participants of the practical journalism courses has been organized with support from the UNDP CO in Tajikistan,” Safarov said.
“Russian and Tajik groups that participated in the master-classes were made familiar of features of work with multimedia sites, placing photo- and audiovisual materials on them,” said the executive director, “The master-class participants also studied legal foundation of online journalism and structure of the online reporting. The expert explained international standards of modern journalism to the master-class participants and drew their attention to the necessity of keeping a balance of opinions, authenticity of materials, and operative and unbiased coverage of socially significant issues.”
According to international experts, as of 2009, audiences for online journalism continue to grow. In 2008, for the first time, more Americans reported getting their national and international news from the internet, rather than newspapers, and audiences to news sites continued to grow due to the launch of new news sites, continued investment in news online by conventional news organizations, and the continued growth in internet audiences overall, with new people discovering the internet”s advantages for convenience, speed and depth.
It is to be noted that the training of practical journalism is part of the project, Strengthening of Professional Knowledge and Skills of Young Journalists, which is implemented under support of the UNESCO International Program for the Development of Communication and the U.S. Embassy Democracy Commission Small Grants Program.
Media-Group Asia-Plus, Tajik Journalists’ Union faculties of journalism at Tajik universities and the Dushanbe independent TV station “Simoi Mustaqili Tojikiston” (Independent Television of Tajikistan) have provided technical assistance to the project.
The first three-month training on practical journalism, involving 60 competitively selected young journalists aged 18 to 30, was held in the summer. The training, which was free of charge, was conducted twice a week in Tajik and Russian groups on the following subjects: press media; radio and television. The second stage of the training on practical journalism will be held in autumn 2009 and it will also involve 60 students.
