Journalist training kicks off in Liberia
Twenty Liberian journalists from print and broadcast media say they’re eager to publish stories around post-conflict justice in their region, following two weeks of intensive training in Monrovia on the issue. This is the first such training delivered by "Communicating Justice," a joint project of the BBC World Service Trust and the International Center for Transitional Justice.
Verdier talks to editors
The project also organised a week of activities to garner their editors' support, including a July 31 discussion forum on transitional justice and the media. Addressing the forum, Liberia's Solicitor-General Tiawon Gongloe noted that whatever reporters write or record can only be made public if editors approve. "Therefore, by choosing to begin the process of public education on the transitional justice process in Liberia with editors of media institutions, the BBC Trust has made major progress," he told the assembled editors. Other keynote speakers at the forum were Truth and Reconciliation Commission Chairman Jerome Verdier and Press Union of Liberia President George Barpeen. Mediated by Oscar Bloh of Search for Common Ground, the forum produced lively debate on accountability for human rights abuses in Liberia and the role of the media.
The reporters' training, which took place from August 6 to August 17, primarily focused on the skills and knowledge needed to cover the upcoming public hearings of the TRC and the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor in The Hague. The training roster included South African journalist Karen Williams, who covered her own country's TRC as a radio news editor; Paul James Allen and Alex Loden of ICTJ's Monrovia office; and Communicating Justice Project Director Julia Crawford, whose experience includes covering trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).
Asked to complete an evaluation of the two-week course, participants said it was highly relevant and useful. "I'll be able to apply what I have learned because this course has set the pace for objective reportage on issues of TJ," wrote one participant, while another commented: "I'm leaving with a good understanding of transitional justice and would now like to share that understanding with all levels of society through various media."
Training took place in the new facilities of the Liberia Media Center (LMC), ensuring a working environment which most participants rated highly. As well as an airy conference room, the LMC also made its Internet room, with ten online computers, available to the trainees. Participants will now follow up the face to face training with an on-line learning course, guided by local trainer Samuel Duworko. Internet access will again be offered by the LMC.
Timed to coincide with this training course, the project produced a number of specialist training materials, including a handbook for journalists on covering transitional justice, a glossary of legal terms and a collection of Internet based resources, all of which can be found on this website.
Communicating Justice will take similar training for journalists to Sierra Leone in October 2007, then to Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the first half of 2008. Face to face and online training will be followed up by a further week of in-country training in each of the project countries.
