A four-day workshop arranged for the country’s women television journalists, funded by the UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), has concluded on 13th April (yesterday) in the metropolis.
A total of 17 journalists working for different television channels participated in the workshop, with the main objective to strengthen their professional capacity in news gathering and news productions. The workshop had started on 10th April.
Former Senator and General Secretary Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Taj Haider, while speaking at the concluding ceremony of the workshop, said that the role of female journalists was very important in the field of media. He said a reporter had to provide good analysis in his/her report. He further said there were certain forces that shaped society and journalists have to reach out and understand those forces which brought societal change. A reporter had to dig out the real facts behind every incident of importance, he added.
Furthermore, Haider said that journalists were easily bribed with information but they should refrain from indulging in immoral activities. He shared with the audience a few of his valuable experiences with renowned journalists of the country and said that he found them to be good learners.
Former employee of a local news channel Naheed Taj said, during the concluding ceremony, that panic should not be evident in the voice of news anchors during emergency situation. She added that the habit of reading should be adopted by news anchors in order to enhance their knowledge regarding different things.
Women Media Centre (WMC) Pakistan executive director said that WMC was acting as
UNESCO’s partner in implementing the workshop, and explained to the participants that IPDC was the only multilateral forum in the UN system designed to mobilise the international community to discuss and promote media development in developing countries. She further said that there was a dearth of practical training of female students of media studies and female journalists in the country. She also said that it was the first time in the history of the country that a democratically elected parliament had completed its tenure and hoped that citizens would see a democratic transfer of power, in which the media would play a crucial role. Thus, there was a dire need of such training to be undertaken by media organisations in this regard, she added.
A number of important aspects in television news production were touched upon and
discussed during the workshop, including, among others, a brief history of media, the
characteristic of state versus private television channels, the importance of the credibility of
journalists and anchors, newsroom cycle, news gathering, do’s and don’ts for news anchors and
dealing with complex situations, particularly during election time. Participants also prepared election related news bulletins as final projects at the conclusion of the workshop.
