Equip journalists with the tools they need to inform, empower and connect people around the world
MediaTrain understands the key role of the media in raising awareness to bring about change. We work in partnership with international organisations, NGOs or broadcasters, to provide journalists with the skills to deliver relevant, momentous and reliable information on subjects ranging from climate change, HIV/AIDS, nutrition or children’s rights. We help journalists serve their audience by giving them the tools to understand complex subjects and to communicate them effectively. At the core of journalism is the need for newsrooms that are staffed by well-trained and critically-minded journalists who are likely to influence development in their societies.
- Basic JournalismWe teach the foundations of good journalism: structure, sourcing, quotes, balance, context, leads and style, as well as ethics, legal dangers and the difference between scepticism and cynicism.
- Development journalismWe examine how to present issues related to development in an attractive, hard-hitting but balanced way, demonstrating the connection to trade, politics, the environment, health and business wherever appropriate.
- Environmental journalismWe tackle the challenge of writing stories on environmental change and global warming which excite and animate audiences, without exaggeration and scare-mongering, putting the science into accurate but easily digestible laymen’s language.
- Health journalismWe help journalists navigate the minefields of disease and health care, from the “developing-country” diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis to the rich world ailments like heart disease, cancer and obesity. And of course there is HIV/AIDS and the looming threat of bird flu. The challenge is to inform without prompting either panic or false hope.
- Business JournalismOur seasoned former reporters guide our students through stockmarkets, budgets, central bank committees, company results, debt crises and the like to help them understand and explain the major economic and financial themes which shape the fates of countries, governments and people, rich and poor.
- Journalism about ChildrenWe look at children in the news, how to report on them effectively but without causing harm; and at how children can get involved in journalism, having their say without lowering standards.