Details

Representatives from Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana, Namibia and Lesotho came to the election reporting workshop that was organized by the media program in conjunction with the Deutsche Welle and took place from 14 to 27 April 2009 in Johannesburg.

For the first time the media program offered a course that had TV-Journalists as well as Radio reporters as participants. Therefore the participants were able to compare the two media permanently with each other.

Besides a whole range of different presentations about South Africa, the political landscape and the electoral system the participants learnt also about journalistic skills in theoretical sessions as well as in practical training.

Due to the field days the participants got the opportunity to try their new developed skills on the living object and furthermore send the then produced material to their home newsrooms in order to go on air with it. That was when they reported from the closing ANC rally in Johannesburg with the surprise appearance of Nelson Mandela, from the polling stations in Soweto and from the national result center in Pretoria.

The course didn’t only prepare the participants for their own elections at home but gave them an introduction into South Africa’s political system and society. Journalists in the region normally don’t get the opportunity for those kinds of inside views into their neighbor’s situation. Even if it is an important country like South Africa. But especially journalists need to have this opportunity if regional integration is supposed to make a progress. To build up this knowledge is essential so that it can be multiplied and transported to their fellow countrymen via the media houses they work for.