Details

Journalists in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will report on the first poll in that country in over forty years next month. Congolese journalists work under challenging conditions often with low wages, lacking training, independence and resources to do their job properly. The use of media for partisan and ethnic interests by competitors in the pending elections race have already been decried by that country's Independent Electoral Commission and High Authority for Media.

To help prepare journalists to cover the election period in a professional manner, KAS Media, the DRC office of the KAS and the Deutsche Welle Akademie undertook a twelve day training exercise with 15 reporters from Congolese provinces.

Former Reuters bureau chief for Africa, Nicholas Kotch spent two days accustomising scholars to the mechanics of the election process and the vagaries of reporting democracy. His task was assisted by senior presenters that included the chairman of the electoral commission, Apollinaire Malu-Malu, political leaders, the president of the Higher Authority for Media, Modeste Muthinga and the KAS national coordinator in DRC, Prof. Mabiala Mantuba-Ngoma. After crystallising story ideas for coverage, the scholars were handed over to Deutsche Welle Akademie trainers, Tania Kramer and Alex Goebel for a week of intensive practical training. Scholars learnt analog and digital recording techniques, interviewing and storytelling strategies and audio editing skills from the DW trainers. Three reporting teams produced "shows" including different formats (vox pops, interviews, news documentary etc) on the topics of: The historical background and road to elections; The manipulation of children and youth by politicians and election campaigners and; The influence of women and gender on elections.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is scheduled to go to the polls on 30 July.

For more on Deutsche Welle Akademie visit:

Deutsche Welle Akademie

For more on KAS DRC visit: KAS DRC

For more detailed report of state of media in DRC visit:

http://www.jed-afrique.org